Review
John Barrymore always looked just a little bit maniacal even when playing it straight and that trait actually adds to his portrayal of the oh-so-saintly Dr. Jekyll. Barrymore's version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Mr. Hyde has become justly famous and if the ham is sliced a bit thick, well, all the better. The great actor was playing Richard III on Broadway at the time and a bit of Shakespearean comportment seems to have crept into Barrymore's Hyde, who scurries through the fog-bound back-lot London in an almost simian fashion. Surprisingly, the often maligned Nita Naldi adds an almost modern sexuality as the ill-fated cabaret dancer, an contrivance not in Stevenson's original but copied in the two most famous sound remakes. The contrasting Martha Mansfield, as good girl Millicent Carew, is the standard ingnue but she, too, is allowed a couple of nice moments in what essentially is a Barrymore
tour de force. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
On the DVD
Interactive menu
Scene selection
Region free
