Dr. Jekyll’s name brings up many things. The one thing that comes to mind is mad scientist. A film titled The Son of Dr. Jekyll, gives a person pause. The thought that comes to mind is what can the actors and director do to make the film watchable. It would seem unlikely, but director Seymour Friedman and Louis Hayward, have put together a plausible film.
The film starts with Edward Hyde, being confronted by the police, and an angry mob, after killing Henry Jekyll’s wife. Jekyll’s house has caught fire, and Hyde is trapped. Hyde jumps from the house and is killed. Hyde’s secret is revealed, and Jekyll’s son is rescued from the fire.The beginning is good, with Louis Hayward, playing Hyde. Little Edward Jekyll, is taken in and raised by Sir John Utterson, (Lester Matthews). The adult Jekyll is played by Louis Hayward. Edward Jekyll grows up, goes off to medical school, and is expelled for conducting forbidden experiments. After this, he is told about his father, and given the key to his father’s long abandoned estate. He is obsessed with clearing his father’s name. He of course finds Dr. Jekyll’s notes. Edward is able to replicate his father’s formula, and becomes Hyde, but just lies on the floor, with his eyes closed. He does get an audience, so he can demonstrate the formula’s effects, but nothing happens. Even though Hyde hasn’t come back, people are being assaulted and murdered, with fingers pointing at Jekyll. He is taken in mainly because of his tainted name and is placed in an asylum, because his mental state has come into question. Jekyll is placed on trial, and witnesses testify against him. These witnesses are only interested in putting away the surviving Jekyll, more than the truth. Edward Jekyll manages to escape custody, and finds the truth. It is that his father’s friend, Dr. Curtis Lanyon, (Alexander Knox), has set him up. He was a friend of Henry Jekyll, and sabotaged his experiments. This was enough, but he was the benefactor of Jekyll’s Estate, until little Edward survived. Dr. Lanyon is confronted by a mob, and confesses, when trapped and jumps to his death, from the same balcony as Hyde. Lanyon’s death clears Edward and his father Henry. Edward Jekyll is free to marry his fiancé, Lynn Utterson, (Jody Lawrance), the niece of Sir John Utterson.
The Son of Dr. Jekyll is surprising. Louis Hayward, who appeared in cheap swashbuckling films, gives a good performance. He manages to convey a man tortured by his father’s tarnished reputation very well. The beginning sequence is well directed by Seymour Friedman, and sets up the rest of the story. Friedman also does a good job with the courtroom scenes. The Son of Dr. Jekyll won’t live up to the Jekyll/Hyde movies, but does manage to be mostly original. This keeps it well paced and watchable, not a terrible film, which the title might indicate.