A few years ago, I did a write up titled "Over 100 Years of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Variations," but somehow I recently found out that there was a glaring omission from 1925 called "Dr. Pyckle And Mr. Pryde" that starred the phenomenal Stan Laurel, so that's what this Weird Wednesday is all about.
I don't know why this title card says Mr. Pride instead of Mr. Pryde.
It's difficult trying to know about every film ever made, so thank the Lord, I have my editor to root some of this stuff out for me!
For anybody out there who thinks they just couldn't possibly watch a black and white or silent film, this short movie should change your mind real quick. It's fast paced and hilarious!
Julie Leonard is the good Doctor's lovely assistant. Julie started her career in 1921, and has 23 acting credits. This was the second to the last of her films.
When I was first told about this movie, I thought maybe Stan the Doctor would turn into an Ollie Hyde, but this was a solo feature for Stan Laurel. Although Laurel and Hardy did appear together in a film in 1921 called "The Lucky Dog," it wasn't until 1931 and a film called "Pardon Us," that they appeared for the first time together as a comedy team.
Fight the Devil, Doctor, you can do it!
But of course he'll drink it anyway, or we wouldn't have a story!
In this movie, you really get a chance to see another side to Stan Laurel, and the depth of his acting abilities! He was truly incredible!
Mr. Pryde reminded me a lot of "The Creep." He's a quite loathsome character who is actually sillier than Hell. In this scene, he steals this kid's ice cream cone. Now that's mean!
Mr. Pryde is fairly pleased with himself!
Oops!
For his next stunt, Mr. Pryde pulls out his trusty pea shooter!
Aw, quit your sniveling, it didn't hurt that bad!
After that incident, Mr. Pryde is chased back to his laboratory where he quickly reverts back to the much more pleasant Dr. Pyckle again.
But it doesn't take long for him to get back to his nefarious and devious actions again such as blowing a party blow-out in this woman's face!
Mr. Pryde scares this lady so bad, after he sneaks up behind her, and pops a paper bag! What diabolical act is he not capable of?
Mr. Pryde gets caught when he's trying to hide behind this pole, so he hands this gentleman a gift as a distraction.
The gift turns out to be a dastardly Chinese Finger Trap, also sometimes known as Chinese Handcuffs.
The Chinese Finger Trap dates back to the early 6th century BC, when Lao Tzu, used the device to thwart invaders. They've been sold in novelty shops for years, and still delight kids to this day!
After all those horrendous acts, Mr. Pryde must once again revert back his normal dull self.
As the local denizens descend on his doorway, Dr. Pyckle notices that he's starting to change back to Mr. Pryde, but without taking the transformation potion!
Mr. Pryde then turns his attention to his assistant, who promptly hits him over the head with a bottle, and the movie is over!
I highly suggest you take the time to watch this wonderful film from 97 years ago, and to make it that much easier for you, here's one of the places you can see it for free!
2 comments:
I'm not sure who does the title cards on these things. I once watched Diary of a Lost Girl with Louise Brooks, and the title card said Dairy of a Lost Girl! Well, there was a cow in the movie.
Love it Robert! That's hilarious! Prefect!
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