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DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE (1931). For me, the definitive version of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella with impressive camera work for the time and damn good transformation scenes with Hyde looking positively beastial towards the end. A lot of stilted dialogue...all the "Darling!", "Sir" and "How I love You!" bits will have You fidgeting, but stick with it . This was Pre-Code, so it's quite violent and incredibly heavy on the sex stuff; Jekyll is almost panting in his desire to get married and as soon as he becomes Hyde, he goes immediately to find the streetwalker who so captivated Jekyll. Frederic March won an Oscar as the titular character, but for Me the highlight of the film is Miriam, Hopkins. What I've read about her strikes me as a demanding, scene stealing diva, but she is sensational and heartbreaking as Ivy, the Good Time girl whose life quickly becomes a nightmare. ****
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