The Doctor's Horrible Experiment

The original French title *Le Testament du docteur Cordelier* (commonly known in English as *Experiment in Evil* or *The Testament of Doctor Cordelier*) is a 1961 French television film shot in black and white and directed by Jean Renoir. The film adapts Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella *Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde*, transplanting the story to 1950s France. Jean-Louis Barrault plays both Dr. Cordelier and his alter ego Opale, the equivalents of Jekyll and Hyde. The production is noted for its visual style, which was far superior to typical television programs of the 1950s.

In Paris, lawyer Joly receives the will of his friend and client Cordelier, a celebrated psychiatrist, who bequeaths everything to a patient named Opale. Joly soon discovers that Opale is a sadistic pervert and murderer who repeatedly evades the police. Opale also causes the death of another leading psychiatrist, Séverin, who had challenged Cordelier’s views. The climax occurs after a smart party at Cordelier’s large house, when the doctor is heard howling in pain from his laboratory. Breaking in, Joly finds Opale, who confesses that he is actually Cordelier. Through long research into mind-altering drugs, Cordelier created a separate persona through which he could act out his hidden desires without taking responsibility. Swallowing an overdose, he dies.

The cast includes Jean-Louis Barrault as Dr. Cordelier/Opale, Teddy Bilis as Maître Joly, Jean Bertho as Premier passant, Jacques Ciron as Deuxième passant, Jean Topart as Désiré, Michel Vitold as Docteur Séverin, Jacques Danoville as Commissaire Lardaut, and André Certes as Inspecteur Salbris.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% approval rating based on six reviews, with a weighted average score of 7.7 out of 10. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of four stars, praising Barrault’s performance and Renoir’s direction.