R.L. Stevenson’s celebrated tale of terror, first published in 1886, has inspired countless screen adaptations, but none has ever matched the achievement of the very first sound version: R. Mamoulian's sensual and stylish masterpiece of 1931.

Academy Award winner for F. March for his virtuoso performance.

THE FILM

'I've played with dangerous knowledge. I've walked a strange and terrible road...'

Made shortly before the enforcement of the Hays Code which ushered in stricter censorship, Mamoulian's adaptation is startlingly frank in its portrayal of Jekyll as a man tormented by sexual frustration.

A brilliant young doctor, he shocks the scientific community by claiming that man's good self can be separated from his evil self, while his impatience to marry his fiancée - clearly motivated by sexual need - is condemned as 'positively indecent'.

Fredric March won an Academy Award for his virtuoso performance as the elegant, civilised doctor who transforms himself to terrifying effect.

FILM FACTS

The film is remembered today for its strong sexual content, embodied mostly in the character of the prostitute. When the film was rereleased in 1936, a censorship code required 8 minutes to be removed because of their sexual content.

The technical secret of the transformation scenes from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde was not revealed until after the director's death.

THE REVIEWS

" A Classic. Not to be missed" - THE GUARDIAN

"There have been dozens of adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson's story since the author created the character during a six day cocaine binge in 1886 (...) but this 1931 version of the story is hard to beat." - CHANNEL FOUR REVIEW

"Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is perhaps the most stylish and technically innovative of any of the several versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, for Mamoulian integrated both the new and established film technologies into his individual filmmaking style. Dissolves, superimpositions, camera movements, and expressionistic lighting are synthesized into his vision of the struggle within man, which is the heart of Stevenson's tale." - FILM REFERENCE

ABOUT THE RELEASE OF THE NEW COPY OF DR JEKYLL AND MY HYDE:

"In the British Film Insttitute's very welcome restoration of Rouben Mamoulian's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from 1931, there are many happy discoveries - not least the sheer sexiness of this version of the Stevenson story, something generally put aside until the mid-90s and Stephen Frears' neglected Mary Reilly, but that's another story. Maybe the most arresting thing about the Mamoulian version is in the opening and its classic point-of-view shot." - THE GUARDIAN

THE AWARDS

Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Actor in a Leading Role, Fredric March.

Venice Film Festival: Audience Referendum; Most Favorite Actor, Fredric March; Most Original Fantasy Story, Rouben Mamoulian.

THE DIRECTOR - FACTS

• Rouben Mamoulian was an Armenian- American director.
• Born in Georgia to an Armenian family in 1897, he died in California in 1987.
• In 1940 he directed The Mask of Zorro.
• He was fired from 3 film shootings: Laura (1944, finally directed by O. Preminger), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Cleopatra (1963, finally directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

THE SCREENING

This film will be shown on a beautiful new 35 mm print coming from the British Film Institute.

It is very rare to see this gorgeous film on a big screen, and even more to see it on a new 35 mm print!

The British Film Institute asked us to handle the print with great care as it is a very special object!

The print is finally coming to Newcastle after having toured the UK, including London, Edinburgh and Manchester.