The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling (1959)

Henry Jekyll was always the outsider, a bungling and awkward buffoon, relegated to waiting for his invitation to participate in life that never arrived: until he discovers a medical formula developed by a dead uncle, which claimed to turn 'a man of timid disposition into a bold, fearless dragon'. Taking a draught of the elixir Henry is transformed into suave, sophisticated and highly desirable Teddy Hyde. Armed with his new persona, Teddy is ready to face the world; but is Henry ready for the consequences?

Date of release
1959-09-09
TMDB
6.0 / 10 (6)
Runtime
1h 24m
Genres
Comedy, Crime
Director
Lance Comfort

Casting

Interesting facts

The Ugly Duckling is a 1959 British science fiction comedy film, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Bernard Bresslaw, Jon Pertwee and Reginald Beckwith. The screenplay was by Sid Colin and Jack Davies. The film is a comic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde storyline and the opening credits include "with ideas stolen from Robert Louis Stevenson". The film has no connection to the Hans Christian Andersen story. The tagline on posters read "He's a changed man after taking Jekyll's family remedy." Around this time, Hammer announced they were also producing a straight version of the Jekyll-Hyde theme in the near future to be called The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll.

Production

Filming took place at Bray Studios in Berkshire. It was not a success at the box office, losing £20,000. Hammer apparently misplaced the negative on this film, as it is one of the only Hammer films from this period that is not available on home video. A brief extract from James Bernard's theme to Dracula (1958) (also made for Hammer Films) is played whenever Jekyll drinks the potion.

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