Passively enjoyable, but rather consistently troubled in one way or another
On the one hand, I have mixed experience to date with Abbott and Costello, and I'm aware that later examples of their horror-comedies with Universal are regarded less highly. On the other hand, writer John Grant returns from the previous efforts of 1948 ('Frankenstein') and 1951 ('The invisible man'), both of which I thought were great, and filmmaker Charles Lamont also returns from the immediate predecessor of two years before. I sat to watch 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' with mixed expectations but high hopes, and not knowing anything specific about it beforehand. Unfortunately, to be frank, I don't think this particular film is very good. Maybe I should give it another try some day, but with so many other things to watch, I'm in no rush. I'll grant that I was in a horribly foul mood in the first place when I pressed "play," and it could well be that this had undue, unfair influence on my viewing experience. Yet shouldn't a good comedy be able to dispel such misery, if only briefly or temporarily?
The first intended humorous scene to greet us, a suffragette rally that turns to chaos, has altogether aged poorly at a time decades later when oppressive, violent misogyny runs rampant and powerful people actively seek to disenfranchise women among countless others. Later, a sequence in a wax museum is too frantic and harried for its own good, disallowing the humor to particularly land. As the minutes tick by too much of the intended levity otherwise feels forced and empty, as if many instances are being utilized because the participants know it's what the audience expects, and they knew what has worked in the past, but they weren't able to care about it, or to make us care about it in turn. We get excitable characters and spirited performances, plentiful gags, quips and one-liners, clever exchanges of dialogue, situational humor, upended expectations and so on - all the tricks of the trade, finely executed in a mechanical sense - but the feature struggles to even elicit a smile. Here I think the incidence feels tiresome more than amusing, and instances of sped-up footage or extra cartoonish performances exemplify the issue. Even the bit of transformations wears thin very swiftly, and these are an increasingly regular occurrence throughout the length.
There's half the problem right there. The other half is that the writing sometimes comes across as overfull and busy, and quite at odds with itself, and I'm at best unsure if various aspects of the material receive all due treatment. The core premise of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, adapting elements from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, is adjoined with less convincing tidbits about the suffragette movement, a running thread of romantic entanglement, and to a lesser extent, the incompetence and violence of police. There are times when Boris Karloff is given the spotlight to accentuate the measured theatricality of his performance, and in these times the script either emphasizes the science fiction and horror and/or waxes poetic about the ideas at play. Notably, the latter times seem to have received the most care in writing and in execution; the facets that portend more sober, dramatic storytelling are more sure-footed than the would-be comedy. Yet this IS also ostensibly a comedy, of course, and so to squeeze it in, not only do some of the nuances of the horror get questionable treatment (e.g., the notion that the doctor allows himself to transform so that vicious Hyde can act on what proper Jekyll thinks or feels; any scenes that could have been exercised for thrills), but the comedy is weaker to begin with, and in this case kind of clashes with the central conceit. The thoughts are there, but the whole has a hard time gelling. It comes across that those involved knew what they were doing, but they weren't really invested.
Sure, the production design and art direction are swell. The costume design, hair, and makeup are fetching. I appreciate the special makeup, and the stunts and practical effects. Broadly speaking this is well made by contemporary standards. But I didn't laugh once. Maybe that says more about me than about the movie, and only a repeat viewing some day would provide that answer. Being less than enthused once, however, I'm just not inclined to bother returning in the future. The iconic duo enjoyed success in their career together, and others who worked on this had certainly made a name for themselves, yet as far as I'm concerned 'Abbott and Costello meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is never more than passively enjoyable. It's not bad, but there are also better ways to spend your time. Do with that information what you will.
The first intended humorous scene to greet us, a suffragette rally that turns to chaos, has altogether aged poorly at a time decades later when oppressive, violent misogyny runs rampant and powerful people actively seek to disenfranchise women among countless others. Later, a sequence in a wax museum is too frantic and harried for its own good, disallowing the humor to particularly land. As the minutes tick by too much of the intended levity otherwise feels forced and empty, as if many instances are being utilized because the participants know it's what the audience expects, and they knew what has worked in the past, but they weren't able to care about it, or to make us care about it in turn. We get excitable characters and spirited performances, plentiful gags, quips and one-liners, clever exchanges of dialogue, situational humor, upended expectations and so on - all the tricks of the trade, finely executed in a mechanical sense - but the feature struggles to even elicit a smile. Here I think the incidence feels tiresome more than amusing, and instances of sped-up footage or extra cartoonish performances exemplify the issue. Even the bit of transformations wears thin very swiftly, and these are an increasingly regular occurrence throughout the length.
There's half the problem right there. The other half is that the writing sometimes comes across as overfull and busy, and quite at odds with itself, and I'm at best unsure if various aspects of the material receive all due treatment. The core premise of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, adapting elements from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, is adjoined with less convincing tidbits about the suffragette movement, a running thread of romantic entanglement, and to a lesser extent, the incompetence and violence of police. There are times when Boris Karloff is given the spotlight to accentuate the measured theatricality of his performance, and in these times the script either emphasizes the science fiction and horror and/or waxes poetic about the ideas at play. Notably, the latter times seem to have received the most care in writing and in execution; the facets that portend more sober, dramatic storytelling are more sure-footed than the would-be comedy. Yet this IS also ostensibly a comedy, of course, and so to squeeze it in, not only do some of the nuances of the horror get questionable treatment (e.g., the notion that the doctor allows himself to transform so that vicious Hyde can act on what proper Jekyll thinks or feels; any scenes that could have been exercised for thrills), but the comedy is weaker to begin with, and in this case kind of clashes with the central conceit. The thoughts are there, but the whole has a hard time gelling. It comes across that those involved knew what they were doing, but they weren't really invested.
Sure, the production design and art direction are swell. The costume design, hair, and makeup are fetching. I appreciate the special makeup, and the stunts and practical effects. Broadly speaking this is well made by contemporary standards. But I didn't laugh once. Maybe that says more about me than about the movie, and only a repeat viewing some day would provide that answer. Being less than enthused once, however, I'm just not inclined to bother returning in the future. The iconic duo enjoyed success in their career together, and others who worked on this had certainly made a name for themselves, yet as far as I'm concerned 'Abbott and Costello meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is never more than passively enjoyable. It's not bad, but there are also better ways to spend your time. Do with that information what you will.
- I_Ailurophile
- Apr 8, 2025