Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1973)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is a great horror movie. It is also a very good musical. This movie as great acting. Great songs. Great singing. It also has great special effects. This is a very scary movie. It very different. There are not to many musicals based on horror novels. There should be more musicals based on horror stories. It would make them more interesting. Doctor Jekyll finds out that man has two souls. And good soul and an evil soul. He invents a formula that brings out his evil side. It takes him over. This movies is very intense. This is Kirk Douglas's best movie. Kirk Douglas is a great actor. He is also a great singer. Susan George is a great actress. This movie is a must see.

It has always been my humble opinion that the best player in the history of the screen who could go quickest into a rage and convince you of it is Kirk Douglas. So the dual role of Dr.Jekyll/Mr.Hyde should have been a natural for him. And when it's strictly acting Kirk takes his place along side John Barrymore, Fredric March, Spencer Tracy even to the guy who created the role in the Victorian era theater Richard Mansfield.But this musical adaption of Dr.Jekyll And Mr. Hyde fails precisely because of that, it's music. Lionel Bart who wrote so many good songs in the 60s for British pop stars and the score of the musical Oliver was in a lot of financial and health problems. The story goes that Bart opened the trunk and provided a lot of previously unpublished stuff for the score. It hadn't been used because it wasn't that good.Can't critique the cast here though only Stanley Holloway as Poole the butler could be properly identified as a musical performer. Kirk Douglas had sung on the big screen previously in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Man Without A Star, but he had better material there. Donald Pleasance is his usual slimy self as the man from London's underworld who discovers Douglas's dual nature.The women in the story no matter which version also emphasize the dual nature. Susan Hampshire is the daughter of Michael Redgrave who Douglas courts as Jekyll. But it's Susan George as the music hall performer who Hyde wants to make his love slave.I wish Kirk Douglas had done a straight dramatic version, it would have been better received.

Kirk Douglas co-produced this videotaped NBC production through his Bryna Productions, and cast himself in the lead. It's rumored to feature castoff songs from Lionel Bart's OLIVER! If so, they've been shoehorned somewhat inappropriately into a truncated but serviceable version of the Stevenson tale.The cast and performances are good-- particularly Susan George, Judi Bowker and Donald Pleasence (who displays an impressive singing voice).Some of the songs are fine-- the one Michael Redgrave sings at the engagement party is beautiful-- but others are cringe-making. One may watch this show wincing in dread that another one will start.Despite this, it's an interesting version-- certainly a curiosity-- and worth a look.

If `Oliver!' was Lionel Bart's `Sgt. Pepper,' then `Dr. J & Mr. H' was his `Let It Be.'But I don't blame him nor the brilliant cast for the dullness of this made-in-the-UK-for-NBC production. It would never have been made in the first place if some ratings-hungry hack at 30 Rock wasn't desperate to sell an idea.At the time PBS' `Masterpiece Theater' was scoring Sunday night ratings airing the opulent British costume serials then being made. Said hack had the idea of putting a famous Yank in that sea of British accents. They even made sure they cast Susan Hampshire, who was in just about everyone of those serials, plus some Brits the American audience knew from the movies (Donald Pleasence, Stanley Holloway, Michael Redgrave.) The guy from `Oliver!' has some other songs? And he's broke? Great! Get him, too! Have it ready by such & such date!It was hyped to the nines in the U.S. media, only to crash in the ratings and the columns. I know of this only because of on-line research; I was fascinated why I'd never heard of such a teaming of talent. I even bought an old copy via eBay; I found myself yawning and fast-forwarding.Apparently, great players alone don't make a team; the coach must know what he'll do with them. If they're going to play on their home ground, it helps if they play for their home crowd, too. (`Covington Cross' flopped for the same reason.)