Blu-ray Review Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Victor Fleming’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde isn’t a patch on Rouben Mamoulian’s faster-paced and more exciting 1931 version, but it has its own merits with excellent performances from Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman and a glossy MGM production that’s always a pleasure to watch.



Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)



Released: 01 Sep 1941
Rated: Passed
Runtime: 113 min




Director: Victor Fleming
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi



Cast: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner
Writer(s): John Lee Mahin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Percy Heath



Plot: Dr. Jekyll allows his dark side to run wild when he drinks a potion that turns him into the evil Mr. Hyde.



IMDB rating: 6.8
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: MGM
Distributed...

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[rojobin]

Have the edited scenes been replaced?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Have the edited scenes been replaced?

This is the version released in the States. Scenes edited out before release has never been shown to movie audiences in America.

 

[bujaki]

This is the version released in the States. Scenes edited out before release has never been shown to movie audiences in America.

As Anita in West Side Story sang: Puerto Rico is in America. The unedited version played in Puerto Rico where I did see it in my home town theater. However, I will admit that we always received the
international--not the domestic USA--version.

 

[Robert Crawford]

As Anita in West Side Story sang: Puerto Rico is in America. The unedited version played in Puerto Rico where I did see it in my home town theater. However, I will admit that we always received the
international--not the domestic USA--version.

The international version wasn't released in the Continental United States!

 

[bujaki]

The international version wasn't released in the Continental United States!

Alas, that was always the loss of the Continental USA, fettered as they were by the Production Code. The colony, for whatever reason, always received the international releases.

 

[Arthur Powell]

This is the version released in the States. Scenes edited out before release has never been shown to movie audiences in America.

I've been perusing some period trade journals (thanks to the Media History Digital Library), and based upon what I've been reading, audiences who saw the film in its initial few weeks of release may have seen a longer version. Harrison's Reports reviewed the film at 127 minutes, and some exhibitors reported the same length when giving their feedback for the "What the Picture Did for Me" section of Motion Picture Herald. However, other exhibitors reported running times of 123 minutes and 110 minutes. My guess is that the film was edited during its first few weeks of release after feedback from exhibitors and some local censor boards. Whether all of the excised footage exists to allow for a restoration of the 127 min. cut is another matter entirely. I do plan on picking up this blu-ray at some point in the future - Deep Discount's Olive bogo sale wiped out my media budget for the next few months!

 

[richardburton84]

This is the version released in the States. Scenes edited out before release has never been shown to movie audiences in America.

I have to wonder if any English audio even survives for those additional scenes (another potential reason why they were not restored). While this wouldn’t affect the longer transformation montages, other scenes such as the longer version of the aftermath of Jekyll’s first transformation into Hyde and a scene near the end where Hyde taunts Jekyll as a reflection in a mirror (a possible inspiration for the “Confrontation” number in the Leslie Bricusse musical of the story, which my sister is a huge fan of) are very dialogue-driven.

 

[Matt Hough]

The version that I reviewed is the only version I've ever seen of the film. Thus, I can't comment on any other versions.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The version that I reviewed is the only version I've ever seen of the film. Thus, I can't comment on any other versions.

I think that's true for most of us that only lived in the Continental US. I'm not sure how many outside the States that are still living today have seen that longer version.

 

[Gerani53]

I imagine this is not scanned from the original neg, since that would have been mentioned by this time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I imagine this is not scanned from the original neg, since that would have been mentioned by this time.

George Feltenstein in a recent podcast stated the Blu-ray was derived from a 4K scan using the best preservation elements that Warner has in their possession which tells me that it wasn't the OCN as he would've mentioned it.

 

[Gerani53]

George Feltenstein in a recent podcast stated the Blu-ray was derived from a 4K scan using the best preservation elements that Warner has in their possession which tells me that it wasn't the OCN as he would've mentioned it.

That's what I figured. Thanks, Robert...

 

[Kanny Daye]

On Nitrateville, two people have reported that they have seen the longer version both on American TV

"Oddly, this 'longer version' was shown on American television back in 1956... I saw it several times as a child and remembered the now-missing sequences. Evidently, it was re-edited and shortened."

and on British TV

"It played on television in the UK many moons ago. A friend sent me a VHS copy which is somewhere stashed away in my closet of old tapes. The extra scenes definitely add to the film but are not likely to change anyone's mind about it. While the movie has many detractors, I've always liked it, perhaps in part because it was often on the late show in my younger days and was the first film version I saw of Stevenson's story."

 

[Robert Crawford]

On Nitrateville, two people have reported that they have seen the longer version both on American TV

"Oddly, this 'longer version' was shown on American television back in 1956... I saw it several times as a child and remembered the now-missing sequences. Evidently, it was re-edited and shortened."

and on British TV

"It played on television in the UK many moons ago. A friend sent me a VHS copy which is somewhere stashed away in my closet of old tapes. The extra scenes definitely add to the film but are not likely to change anyone's mind about it. While the movie has many detractors, I've always liked it, perhaps in part because it was often on the late show in my younger days and was the first film version I saw of Stevenson's story."

Well, let’s just say I’m dubious about such claims.

 

[RICK BOND]

I Got mine today from Amazon ! It looks Great. Now for the 1931 version.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I Got mine today from Amazon ! It looks Great. Now for the 1931 version. View attachment 138852 View attachment 138853

Mine also arrived from Amazon today.

 

[Kanny Daye]

I asked Leo the Lion to roar and Leo did and indeed somebody heard it. A nice gentleman sent me a very old BBC 2 tape recording derived from a transmission at an Halloween eve in the 80s. Unfortunately this is one of the worst recordings I've ever seen: it has been converted from PAL to NTSC and has ugly audio distortion due to severe VHS HiFi tracking problems. So it's really only helpful for reference.

Nevertheless it allows to give some definite insights now: the BBC recording should be 116'33 at 25 fps which would be 10895 feet or 3321 metres. This is 121'23 in 24 fps. The BBC version is of course completely in English (language and inserts) but otherwise carries the footage present in the Austrian print shown on German TV and additionally features the four scenes which are present in the Warner PAL master but missing from the German TV version https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=897474

08:40
The German Version lacks Jekyll throwing the bottle into the fireplace.
+5 sec

26:04
Something is missing in the German Version here. After Jekyll left Ivy's room, she can instantly be seen from the right side. The DVD contains some more things inbetween, first she can be seen from the left side but turns to the right. Cut to Jekyll going away from the door and walking though the corridor. Here, the DVD shows the view from the right.
+7 sec

91:15
Another letter was translated and the key used is not the same as in the original. The German Version is shorter due to the changed transitions.
+2 sec

107:01 - 107:34
The German Version is missing some parts during the ending. The butler is kneeling next to Jekyll's corpse and starts to pray: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness, for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." Fade to black.
+14 sec


So this old BBC 2 transmission seems to represent the most complete version of this film which has surfaced so far although it's still not completely uncut. I guess its source may be the Umatic version the BFI lists on its page without specifying a precise running time http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150018290


The BFI has various sources of the film in its collection and I just named the longest one here, which was the 11400 feet 1947 nitrate dupe negative. Most probably the Umatic is sourced from one of the Acetate prints in the collection which measure 10813 to 10845 feet.


So I'm afraid, the very full 11400 feet / 127 mins version from the 1947 BFI nitrate dupe negative never has been scanned or digitized ever so far and this BFI dupe negative may be the only full uncut version around today.


This article indicates, that Warner is aware about the cuts in its master materials / the current video version since at least 2011 https://nypost.com/2011/05/13/dvd-e...medium=site buttons&utm_campaign=site buttons


So it's truly frustrating that Warners didn't cooperate with the BFI for this Blu-Ray release and didn't even check the British Umatic video master. As the BD is out now, I'm afraid the chances for a proper restauration are gone by at least for the next years. So it defintely would have been better, not to release the film on Blu-Ray at all for the moment.


I'm ready for now, this is all information I can contribute to these issues. Let's hope somebody at Warners who has the power to bring changes about will derive the right actions from this at some time.

 

[Astairefan]

I asked Leo the Lion to roar and Leo did and indeed somebody heard it. A nice gentleman sent me a very old BBC 2 tape recording derived from a transmission at an Halloween eve in the 80s. Unfortunately this is one of the worst recordings I've ever seen: it has been converted from PAL to NTSC and has ugly audio distortion due to severe VHS HiFi tracking problems. So it's really only helpful for reference.

Nevertheless it allows to give some definite insights now: the BBC recording should be 116'33 at 25 fps which would be 10895 feet or 3321 metres. This is 121'23 in 24 fps. The BBC version is of course completely in English (language and inserts) but otherwise carries the footage present in the Austrian print shown on German TV and additionally features the four scenes which are present in the Warner PAL master but missing from the German TV version https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=897474

08:40
The German Version lacks Jekyll throwing the bottle into the fireplace.
+5 sec

26:04
Something is missing in the German Version here. After Jekyll left Ivy's room, she can instantly be seen from the right side. The DVD contains some more things inbetween, first she can be seen from the left side but turns to the right. Cut to Jekyll going away from the door and walking though the corridor. Here, the DVD shows the view from the right.
+7 sec

91:15
Another letter was translated and the key used is not the same as in the original. The German Version is shorter due to the changed transitions.
+2 sec

107:01 - 107:34
The German Version is missing some parts during the ending. The butler is kneeling next to Jekyll's corpse and starts to pray: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness, for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." Fade to black.
+14 sec


So this old BBC 2 transmission seems to represent the most complete version of this film which has surfaced so far although it's still not completely uncut. I guess its source may be the Umatic version the BFI lists on its page without specifying a precise running time http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150018290


The BFI has various sources of the film in its collection and I just named the longest one here, which was the 11400 feet 1947 nitrate dupe negative. Most probably the Umatic is sourced from one of the Acetate prints in the collection which measure 10813 to 10845 feet.


So I'm afraid, the very full 11400 feet / 127 mins version from the 1947 BFI nitrate dupe negative never has been scanned or digitized ever so far and this BFI dupe negative may be the only full uncut version around today.


This article indicates, that Warner is aware about the cuts in its master materials / the current video version since at least 2011 https://nypost.com/2011/05/13/dvd-extra-ambersons-on-the-way-maybe-the-uncensored-41-jekyll-too/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site buttons&utm_campaign=site buttons


So it's truly frustrating that Warners didn't cooperate with the BFI for this Blu-Ray release and didn't even check the British Umatic video master. As the BD is out now, I'm afraid the chances for a proper restauration are gone by at least for the next years. So it defintely would have been better, not to release the film on Blu-Ray at all for the moment.


I'm ready for now, this is all information I can contribute to these issues. Let's hope somebody at Warners who has the power to bring changes about will derive the right actions from this at some time.

Question: you keep insisting that Warner is at fault here. While that may be true, what about BFI themselves? So far, it hasn't seemed like Warner and BFI have much of a good relationship, as this now marks three WAC releases that don't quite seem to be what we think they should be, following in the paths of Horror Of Dracula (which used a transfer from the BFI, and is considered one of the worst WAC transfers on Blu-ray) and Gaslight (which included the 1940 film as an extra in standard definition only, even though BFI had already restored and released that film on Blu-ray themselves by that time). Do we know if the cost to access and/or restore titles with elements held by the BFI is reasonable, or is it beyond what most labels/studios are willing to pay (especially in the midst of a pandemic, where the costs of many things have gone up)?

 

[smithbrad]

Might it not just simply be that what Warner Archive just released is what they consider to be the definitive version of the film for the US market, if not overall? Regardless of what was released or shown elsewhere at various times. Regardless of what BFI has collected from various sources. I realize that may not be the result to satisfy everyone, but it is their product to release as they see fit.