John Barrymore stars in the renowned silent adaptation of the Robert Louis
Stevenson classic about a Victorian scientist who turns himself into a murderous
abomination.
Reviewer: lonchaney59 -
- February 22, 2007 Subject: Amazing and immortal great performance from Barrymore !You must see this one if u like B+W
movies.
Gender-bending adult horror, "Adult
Version of Jekyll and Hide" is another outrageous
classic from the Mighty Monarch of Sexploitation, producer David F. Friedman.
Product Description
Jekyll and Hyde get a sex change! When slimy stud Dr. Chris Leeder (Jack
Buddliner) takes possession of Dr. Jekyll's ancient notebook, he quickly
becomes obsessed with the murderous sex crimes of the original Mr. Hide.
Ignoring the notebook's warning that the Jekyll and Hyde formula "makes
people appear as they really are," the demented doc mixes the potion and
promptly turns into..."Miss Hyde" (Jane Tsentas), a sexy blonde in
a mini-skirt who just happens to be a homicidal nymphomaniac! After enjoying
a le$bi$n romp with Leeder's secretary (legendary skinflick starlet Rene
Bond), and the sadistic slaughter of a drunken sailor (ouch!), Miss Hide
decides to pay a visit to Leeder's fiancee (Jennifer Brooks) and permanently
cancel the wedding..
Was an unrepentant Edinburgh sorcerer inspiration for Dr Jekyll?
Major Thomas Weir was a preacher and captain of the town guard, a pillar
of the community whose life ended in scandal - as an unrepentant sorcerer who
was burned at the stake.
Ian Rankin, creator of Inspector Rebus, believes Major Weir could also be
the real Dr Jekyll, principal character in one of Robert Louis Stevenson's
most famous novels.
Rankin believes the tale of the duplicitous Weir, who was executed with
his sister for making a pact with the devil, was one of the prime
inspirations for The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, after it was told
to him as a child.
A BBC documentary, presented by Rankin, says the young Stevenson was
horrified by tales of one of the notorious figures of the 17th century. Weir
shocked Edinburgh society when, at 70, he revealed he had for decades
practised incest, bestiality and sorcery.
Together with his sister, Jean, he was sentenced to be strangled and
burned at the stake.
Stevenson's nanny, known as Cummy, used to read the Bible and old
Covenanter tales to the child. Rankin believes the tale of the double life of
Major Weir led Stevenson to conjure his own Dr Jekyll, the Edinburgh doctor
who transformed into the murderous Mr Hyde.
Weir, from Carluke in South Lanarkshire, was an officer in the Covenanting
army of James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose, and was respected for his
powerful preaching - until he confessed to witchcraft.
Rankin said: "Stevenson had always suffered from nightmares.
"What made Cummy's bedtime stories so terrifying was they really
happened - just outside his bedroom window on the haunted streets of
Edinburgh."
As Covenanters, Thomas and Jean "made a great show of piety and
godliness and excelled at prayer".
"At their interrogation," Rankin explained, "Jean sported
the Devil's mark in the shape of a horseshoe on her forehead. They told the
horrified Lord Provost they had met the Devil and made a pact with him 20
years previously."
Rankin, in the documentary to be shown on Saturday, also considers other
inspirations for Dr Jekyll, including the graverobbers Burke and Hare, and
cabinet maker and thief Deacon Brodie.
Rankin says his own creation, Inspector Rebus, is his own kind of Dr Jekyll:
"He is allowed to have adventures which are closed to me. He can
transgress, break taboos, be the maverick I never was and never will be.
"I owe a great debt to Robert Louis Stevenson. Without Jekyll and Hyde,
I might never have come up with my own alter ego - Detective John Rebus."
Ian Rankin Investigates Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is on BBC4 on Saturday at
9.55pm.
12:01am today
By PHIL MILLER, Arts Correspondent
ratzo on 9:25pm Wed 13 Jun 07
The Weir case was made into a novel called The Fanatic in 2001 by James
Robertson. Wonder why Rankin never mentioned it. Maybe because Robertson is a
writer, not just a dim hack. Curious fact - in the original case, Weir's horse
was executed and burnt to ashes for its role in the excessive love with
his horse. act.
Posted by: Guga, Rockall on 2:18am today
I was under the impression that Robert Louis Stevenson based his novel on
Deacon Brodie of Edinburgh.
Posted by: Hugh V McLachlan, G.C.U. on 11:16am today
There might be some truth in this article. However, despite what the writer
seems to think 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 'was not set in Edinburgh. It was set in
London. Dr Jekyll was not an Edinburgh doctor.
MovieShame.
There have always been lots of movies that show or exploit sex, but far fewer
that try to explore it seriously, as a rich, meaningful subject, whether
psychological or social...
A Christmas Carol Seymour Hicks plays
the title role of Scrooge in the first
sound version of the Dickens classic about ..
