What It's About:

Warner's DVD provides two versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of Doctor Jekyll, a brilliant virtuous scientist doing highly unconventional experiments which attempt to isolate the source of man's basest, most primitive impulses. A potion he concocts turns Jekyll into the rampaging beast Mr. Hyde, who terrorizes all of London. Can the doctor formulate an antidote to this serum before his own life is destroyed?

Why I Love It:

Both 1932 and 1941 versions of this oft-told classic make for worthwhile viewing, with my own preference the earlier pre-Code entry starring Fredric March. It's the more frightening of the two, with stark, expressionist sets and ghoulish Hyde make-up accentuating Jekyll's turn from good to evil. The second entry has a gorgeous MGM gloss, and assured direction by Victor Fleming. It also has Spencer Tracy, a fabulous actor whose Hyde is a subtler rendition, a man with a heavier brow and leering expression, whose change seems more behavioral than physical. The second version also boasts the luminous Ingrid Bergman, playing against type as a streetwalker. See both entries, and make up your own mind. You won't go far wrong either way.