Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Film poster
Directed by	Roy Ward Baker
Produced by	Brian Clemens Albert Fennell
Written by	Brian Clemens
Starring	Ralph Bates Martine Beswick
Music by	David Whitaker
Cinematography	Norman Warwick
Editing by	James Needs
Studio	Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-EMI Film Distributors MGM-EMI (UK), American International (USA)
Release date(s)	17 October 1971
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the short story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their second adaptation of the story after their 1960 film The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. The film is notable for showing Jekyll transform into a female Hyde; it also incorporates into the plot aspects of the historical Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare cases. The two characters were played by the film's stars, Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick.

Plot

While searching for an elixir of life, Dr. Henry Jekyll begins using female hormones taken from fresh cadavers supplied by Burke and Hare, reasoning that these hormones will help him to extend his life since women traditionally live for longer than men. These have the effect of not only altering his character (for the worse) but also of changing his gender, transforming him into a beautiful but evil woman. To explain the sudden appearance of his female half around the house, he calls himself Mrs. Hyde, saying she is Jekyll's widowed sister. Dr. Jekyll soon falls in love with Susan Spencer, the upstairs tenant, but Sister Hyde develops a lust for her brother.

Dr. Jekyll soon finds that his serum requires a regular supply of female hormones to maintain its effect, necessitating the killing of young girls. Burke and Hare supply his needs but their criminal activities are uncovered. Burke is lynched by a mob and Hare blinded. The doctor decides to take the matters into his own hands and commits the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. Dr. Jekyll abhors this, but Sister Hyde relishes the killings as she begins to take control, even killing Jekyll's friend Professor Robertson when he attempts to question Hyde about the murders.

As the two personalities begin to struggle for dominance, Dr. Jekyll only just manages to thwart Sister Hyde's attempt to kill Susan. He then commits one last murder to find a way to stabilize his condition, but he is interrupted by the police after a comment by Hare leads them to realize the similarity between Jekyll's earlier experiments on cadavers and the Ripper murders. As Dr. Jekyll tries to escape by climbing along the outside of a building, he transforms into Sister Hyde, who, lacking his strength, falls to the ground, dying as a twisted amalgamation of male and female.

Cast

• Ralph Bates as Dr. Henry Jekyll
• Martine Beswick as Mrs. Edwina Hyde
• Gerald Sim as Professor Roberston
• Lewis Fiander as Howard Spencer
• Susan Brodrick as Susan Spencer
• Dorothy Alison as Mrs. Spencer
• Ivor Dean as William Burke
• Tony Calvin as William Hare
• Philip Madoc as Ryker
• Paul Whitsun-Jones as Sergeant Danvers
• Virginia Wetherell as Betsy

See also

• Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde

References

• Rigby, Jonathan, (2000). English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-01-3. 

External links

• Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde at the Internet Movie Database
• Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde at the TCM Movie Database
• Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde at AllRovi
• BFI Screenonline
• Britmovie