What is it that Spencer Tracy and Victor Fleming, have in common? Many might be puzzled. The answer is they were both Hollywood success stories. Tracy won back to back academy awards. They were for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. This achievement stood for over fifty years. It was broken in the nineties, by Tom Hanks. Victor Fleming directed Gone With the Wind. It was a towering achievement, and was one of the best films produced by Hollywood. This is one commonality. Their other is their collaboration on MGM’s version of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is an example of extraordinary talent, failing to make a good movie.
There are reasons for this third major version, of the classic story, not working. There is the miscasting of Tracy, in the lead role. He cannot project the goodness of Jekyll. What is worse, is that he is never scary as Hyde. One of the reasons for Tracy not succeeding is the Hayes code. This prevented the full evil of the character being presented. There is also the makeup, for Hyde. Spencer Tracy looks like an older man, who had a sleepless night. Another screen star out of place, is Ingrid Bergman. She plays Ivy Peterson. Her character is a dancehall barmaid, seduced by Hyde. Although living and working in London, Ivy has Bergman’s Swedish accent. Bergman, although not too good in this, became one of the best actresses in Hollywood history. She was over a year from becoming an immortal screen icon, in Casablanca. A better case can be made for Lana Turner’s inclusion in this film. She was a beautiful actress, and played Beatrix Emery, Jekyll’s fiancé. The character in earlier versions is secondary, and so is this one. Lana Turner does well in this small role, and is mainly there to help the film.
Despite the movie falling short, there are some interesting things. Barton MacLane plays Sam Higgins. He is a man driven insane by an accident. MacLane’s scene in church is one of the better ones in the film. It is Sam Higgins illness that provides Jekyll’s motivation for his personality experiment. MacLane stepped out of character for the role. He made his Hollywood career playing heavies. There were some interesting directorial scenes by Victor Fleming. One is the initial change to Hyde. It shows both Ivy Peterson and Beatrix Emery in Jekyll/Hyde’s mind. There is also the finale with Jekyll in a panic, when asked about Hyde’s whereabouts. There are also some good sets. The dancehall lends for some realism. It is where Hyde first meets Ivy.
It is too bad that Hollywood’s number one studio, couldn’t produce an effective horror movie. They can be excused for it. They are responsible for musicals and their logo of having more stars in heaven. The studio also had Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and many more. The failure of this film, caused Tracy to lament about his career. He thought his days in Hollywood were finished. They weren’t. He was about to hit the big time, with Katherine Hepburn.