All about "Jekyll and Hyde", 30s Style Quiz

Answer: JEE-kull

The nephew of Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of the original work, had a small part in the movie, and is supposed to be the one who told the actors how to pronounce the name (which, according to Scottish viewers, is on the mark). Nonetheless, in virtually every other production of a film based on the novel, or using characters from the novel, the pronunciation "JEH-kell," or "JEH-kull," seems to be preferred.

Answer: Ivy's

Ivy's last name is spelled "Pearson" in a newspaper article that is shown in one shot, but in the end credits, it is spelled "Pierson."

There is no Beatrice in this film: she is a character in the 1941 MGM remake.

Answer: True

The effect was brought about by Fredric March wearing make-up that was visible only under lights of a certain color. Filters were used on the camera to aid the effect, but it was essentially the same as the stage effect: furrows and ridges on his face were brought out by a change in lighting that exposed make-up he was already wearing.

It was a masterful effect that propped up the newer effects of the dissolve and stop-motion, so that altogether, the transformation scenes were very effective. Good acting on the part of March helped as well.

Answer: Neanderthal facial reconstructions

Westmore claimed he based his make-up on reconstructions of H. neanderthalensis, as they existed in the late 1920s. There were accusations of racism even at the time of the film's release, and they have continued, but those probably originated in racist underlyings in the recreations of earlier forms of the genus Homo that existed at the time. Looking at the make-up, it is hard not to see some resemblance to Piltdown reconstructions as well, and the Piltdown skull had not yet officially been discredited, although it had many detractors by 1929-30, with many more anthropologists willing to put H. neanderthalensis directly in the H. sapiens lineage, with Piltdown as either a side branch, or an error.

It is the official position of Westmore that H. neanderthalensis alone was his inspiration.

Answer: Miriam Hopkins

Miriam Hopkins, who is actually a Southerner from the US, is one of the few American actors who attempts (fairly successfully) an English accent in this film set in London. She also is very seductive in a film that is not yet governed by the Hays' code. Her leg swinging off the side of her bed is one of the unforgettable images from this film.

At first she turned down the role, preferring the role of the society girl Jekyll is engaged to, but the director told her that a number of other actresses were clamoring for the role of Ivy, and it was much meatier than the role of the fiancee, and eventually Hopkins agreed, accepted the role, and turned it into a personal triumph.

Ingrid Bergman played Ivy in the 1941 remake, and she actually had to fight for the role, because the producer was sure audiences would have difficulty accepting her as the "bad" girl (the temptress) in the film, but Bergman insisted.

Lana Turner and Rose Hobart play the fiancees in 1941, and 1931, respectively.

Answer: Schumann published criticism as conversation between two divergent characters.

This technique of criticism first appeared in the "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung," in 1831, in an essay regarding Frédéric Chopin's variations on a theme from Mozart's "Don Giovanni." Chopin's work was discussed by two characters named Florestan and Eusebius, who represented, respectively, Schumann's passionate, volatile side, and his shy, introspective side.

Answer: True

The cacophony on the soundtrack during this scene included portions of Bach played at varying volume, the sound of a gong spliced in backwards, and a recording of Mamoulian's heartbeat. Mamoulian refused at first to reveal exactly how the sound for the scene was achieved, but finally, in the 1960s, came forward with the information, because there was new interest in the film, which had been kept from the public for a long time by MGM studios which had bought the rights when it remade the film in 1941.

However, television, and the broadcasting of old films created a market that allowed for both films.

Answer: Fredric March

It is very rare for an actor to win an Oscar for a role in a horror film. As it was, March shared the honor with Wallace Beery for "The Champ." Although actors have been nominated through the years, such as Sigourney Weaver for "Aliens" in 1986, no other actor won an award for starring in a horror film until Anthony Hopkins won one for playing Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs" in 1991. Horror films had taken many make-up and special effects awards, but never acting awards.

Answer: Paramount produced "Dr. J & Mr. H," while "The Wolfman" was a Universal film; and "The Wolfman" came ten years after "Dr. J & Mr. H."

Universal has held tightly to all the copyrights on all its monsters, but none so closely as the very recognizable Frankenstein monster, Dracula, and the Wolfman. This is probably good, as it has forced later directors to return to the source material for depictions of their monsters. However, in 1931, Universal's "Wolfman" did not exist yet, and even "The Werewolf of London" was four years away. This version of "Jekyll & Hyde" seems to be the film that piloted the use of the dissolve (very much refined by the 1960s) for a transformation scene of the type that was used in horror and sci-fi/famtasy films for years, right up until the use of CGI supplanted it around the year 2000. If anything, the later werewolf films stole from Paramount's "Jekyll & Hyde" for their transformation scenes.

Spencer Tracy, in the MGM remake, was the one who made the transformation mostly with his own facial expressions.

Jack Pierce worked for Universal, and did design the "Frankenstein's monster" make-up that Boris Karloff make famous.

Answer: True

In spite of the fact that this was before the Hays' code, the dictates of good taste and the sensitivity of the audiences, who were still used to seeing live theater, might have found kitten torture beyond the pale (and not understood that it was fake), or beyond the moral event horizon, and the audience is meant to sympathize with Jekyll/Hyde when he begins to change without intending to, no matter how evilly Hyde behaves when he does. Dr. Jekyll is in there somewhere, fighting to retain his identity.