Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)

Lore & Background

The film is set in Victorian-era London, where Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with a serum to separate good and evil in human nature. After transforming into Mr. Hyde, he terrorizes a barmaid named Ivy Peterson, raping her and later murdering her. Jekyll's fiancée Beatrix Emery returns from abroad, and Jekyll struggles to control his transformations, which eventually occur without the serum. The story culminates in Hyde killing Beatrix's father, Sir Charles, and being shot by Dr. Lanyon, reverting to Jekyll as he dies.

Reader's Guide

The 1941 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is significant as a major studio remake of a classic horror film, produced by MGM with a high-profile cast and crew. Scholar Angela Smith notes that the film emphasizes psychological and neurological elements over physical transformation, linking repressed sexual desires to individual malaise. The film's production involved a role swap between Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner, and its final scene differs from the 1931 version, with Poole praying as Jekyll dies. The film was a commercial success and earned three Academy Award nominations, though it was criticized by The New York Times for its writing.

Did You Know?

• Ingrid Bergman originally was cast as the virtuous fiancée but pleaded to switch roles with Lana Turner to play the grittier barmaid Ivy.
• The film is a direct remake of the 1931 version, which was withdrawn from circulation by MGM after they acquired the rights in the 1940s, but it was never lost and was re-released in 1967.
• The Production Code Administration insisted Ivy be characterized as a barmaid, not a prostitute as in the source material.
• Spencer Tracy suggested Katharine Hepburn for the role of Beatrix, not both roles; Tracy and Hepburn had already met and begun their relationship by 1941.