Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908)

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• Basiert auf: Der seltsame Fall des Dr. Jekyll und Mr. Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1908 silent horror film starring Hobart Bosworth, and Betty Harte in her film debut. Directed by Otis Turner and produced by William N. Selig, this was the first film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The screenplay was actually adapted by George F. Fish and Luella Forepaugh from their own 1897 four act stage play derived from the novel, causing a number of plot differences with the original source. Despite Stevenson's protests, this film became the model which influenced all the later film adaptations that were to come.

Production

The screenplay was adapted by George F. Fish and Luella Forepaugh based on their own 1897 four act stage play, which was condensed into a 16-minute long film. Selig thought the screenplay he used was based directly on Stevenson's novel, not realizing it had been adapted from Fish and Forepaugh's stage play instead, causing some plot differences.

Despite its brevity, the film was also organized into four acts, just like the play. Each act consisted of a single scene, and the acts were separated onscreen by the rising and falling of a curtain. Selig produced a number of films from this period in much the same way, as if a static camera had simply photographed a stage play that was in progress.

The film was released seven months after the death of stage actor Richard Mansfield. (Mansfield had created the part of Jekyll/Hyde in the theater in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the first stage adaptation written by Thomas Russell Sullivan, beginning in 1887.)

To cash in on the popularity of their 1908 film, the Selig Polyscope company released another version of the Jekyll-Hyde story (running 7 minutes) in 1909 called A Modern Dr. Jekyll, which updated the story to a contemporary setting. Jekyll's formula was depicted as more of a magic potion in that film, and even transforms him into a woman in one scene. The 1909 film is also considered lost.

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