OVER A 100 YEARS OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE VARIATIONS!

"Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" was written by Robert Lewis Stevenson and published in 1886. In the upcoming years after that, the movie making business was just getting started, and the strange story of Dr. Jekyll was a popular subject. As far as I can tell, the first filmed version of "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde"was in 1908 starring Hobart Bosworth! It was followed by more films in 1910 with Alwin Neuß in the lead role, 1912 starring James Cruze, and in 1913, two versions, one with King Baggot as the star, and one with Murdock MacQuarrie as the good Doctor with a split personality! What a bunch of household names today! Makes it real clear how fickle fame really is! But the ongoing tales of Dr. Jekyll didn't really get going until.....

 .......this version came out starring Johnny Barrymore in 1920!

The 1931 version starring Frederick March was a monsterpiece!
Who or what was the greatest monster of all time in the movies? Here are the choices, and you have to consider the variations like "Son of..." and "Cousin of....," Frankenstein, Dracula and/or any vampire variation, a Lycanthrope, a Mummified person, somebody Invisible, or the Doctor with a severe disorder when he drinks too much?
I think Dr. Jekyll is right up there at the top of the list!

I'm not going to attempt to list all the Dr. Jekyll movies, but here's a group of interesting variations I have compiled. This 1941 version starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner, probably had the most star power of them all!

So in 1951, Dr. Jekyll managed to have a son. Happy Mother's Day!

In 1953, Abbott and  Costello met "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde," as they had previously with Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, and after this, they would also meet The Mummy!

 In 1957 it was revealed that Dr. Jekyll not only had a son, but a daughter too!

Hammer Studios came out with a comic variation called THE UGLY DUCKLING in 1959!
Just for the record, this movie is impossible to find today as far as I can tell in any way, shape, or form!

 Also in 1959, Jean Renoir's "Le Testament Du Docteur Cordelier" aka "THE DOCTOR'S HORRIBLE EXPERIMENT came out, and it might be the last serious version for quite a while!

  The nerdy Jerry Lewis Dr. Jekyll turns into rico suave Mr. Hyde in the 1963 version called "The Nutty Professor" (which was remade in itself in the 1996 Eddie Murphy version)!

In 1964, influenced by bad grades and nicotine, The Bitsko Brothers filmed their short version in 8 millimeter! Seen by only a handful of people, all footage is lost forever!

 

 

More family woes, first the brother, then the daughter, and now the sister! "Dr. Jekyll And Sister Hyde" escaped from the loony bin in 1971!

This one gets both a poster and a lobby card because Martine Beswick is in it!

 

 Let no angle be unturned, in 1976, they came out with "Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde" starring Bernie Casey! Killer Poster from Thailand I think!

 DOTTOR JEKYLL E GENTILE SIGNORA (Doctor Jekyll Likes Them Hot) was directed by Steno, and came out in 1979! Edwige Fenech has all the angles in this one!

 DR. HECKLE and MR. HYPE (1980)

I've never seen this one, and I'm not really sure I want to, even though I'm a huge Oliver Reed fan!

I mean it is supposed to be "Horribly Hilarious!"

There have been many many many more versions made over the years like this 1995 comedy, many Warner Brothers cartoons, TV shows as varied as Dobie Gillis, The Dukes Of Hazard, and The Partridge Family, and why not? "Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" is a classic tale of the inner struggles of good and bad and dark and light! It's pretty freakin' simple, and until deemed politically incorrect, will continue until there are only two people left, and then they get into a fight!

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS / Solofilm - 1978

Here's the first remake of the classic movie from 1956. In San Francisco, a group of people discover their friends are being replaced one by one, with clones devoid of human emotion...

The wild little flick stars Donald (DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS) Sutherland, Brooke (SHOCK WAVES) Adams, Jeff (THE FLY) Goldblum, Veronica (ALIEN) Cartwright and Leonard (THE BRAIN EATERS) Nimoy.

Here are our pals, Elizabeth, Matthew and Jack, as they try and figure out why some of their friends are acting a little strange.

I threw in this shot because it's just funny!

Then, Jack has a weird experience when a deformed body in his likeness is found near him. And, he needs to take a little nap...

Here's a big pod giving birth to an unformed human body, just waiting to get its host to sleep!

Leonard Nimoy shows up as Dr. Kibner, he seems to be the head honcho when it comes to putting people to sleep. Here, he's ready to shoot up Matthew and Elizabeth with something to make them groggy.

They throw in this guard dog with a human face for some stupid reason... What the Hell!!

Matthew watches as pods are being delivered overseas, things are getting out of control.

Then, the worst happens, Elizabeth falls asleep and sheds her old skin for some new pod flesh. And, she runs around naked as she chases Matthew back to town.

Matthew discovers the pod nursery and decides to sabotage the works. He takes an ax and cuts all the ropes holding up the lights which starts the whole place on fire!

And, the pods go up in flames and bleed out their unearthly ooze!

Now, is this a cool shot of Matthew running away from the building or what?!

Anyway, Matthew exposes himself when his still human friend Nancy approaches him. He gives out that unearthly screech to bring attention to her, game over, man! We're back Wednesday with even more, from, The Dungeon!!

THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS - "Aren't You Glad It's Not A Chicken Bone?" (1966)

I had something completely different planned but I got sidetracked by a bunch of Japanese videos, so I thought I'd try and have some fun tonight instead!
In the classic 1966 Japanese film, "The War Of The Gargantuas," there was one of the most memorable musical scenes in film history! It's my pleasure to present the original song, and a couple of unique covers, so here's................

                        

........"The Words Get Stuck In My Throat" by Kipp Hamilton." You have to see it to believe it!

                       

In 1977, DEVO came out with their version of "The Words Get Stuck In My Throat" sung by Booji Boy! Why was this not number one with a bullet, I have no idea!
In the 'Six degrees of Separation' Department, DEVO were in Neil Young's hilarious musical called "The Human Highway," which also co-starred Dungeon Hero Russ Tamblyn, who was also the 'American' star of "The War Of The Gargantuas," and one of the stars of what I'm currently fixated on, "Twin Peaks!"

And then in 2010, "The Words Get Stuck In My Throat" bounced back again, this time performed by Trini Lee and her band at The Tiki Tub in a 2010 "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" episode titled "Battle Of The Humungonauts!"

You can watch "The War Of The Gargantuas" start to finish, including this scene right here!! No strings attached, and you won't have to cough up a cent!
It's pretty sad, so just try and not get too choked up!
Thanx to all the people who posted those videos on YouTube and The Internet Archive, we appreciate it!!

THE SMILING GHOST / Warner Bros. - 1941

Today we go back to 1941 to check out this little horror comedy, It goes like this... Elinor Bentley Fairchild's previous three grooms-to-be have either died or been maimed and her aunt hires Lucky Downing to become engaged to her for a month to break the curse! But then, Lucky becomes the target of what appears to be a ghost of one of the former fiances.

It stars Wayne (THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X) Morris, Brenda (THE SEA HAWK) Marshall, Alexis (THE DOUGHGIRLS) Smith, Alan (TUGBOAT ANNIE SAILS AGAIN) Hale and Willie (THE GHOST BREAKERS) Best.

So, three of Elinor's fiancees have fallen to the wayside, the Smiling Ghost is responsible, and, that there newspaper backs me up big time!

Lucky Downing joins the fun at Elinor's house for a month to break the curse, everything seems okay but all the characters at the house are a little crazy to start with.

Lucky brings his servant Clarence along to keep him company while he readies to get hitched at the end of a month. Willie Best was also a talented musician/song writer, but, a drug arrest ended his film career, he worked in television for a while before retiring to obscurity.

Lucky and reporter Lil Barstow go to the hospital to talk to Elinor's only living fiancee who now occupies an iron lung!

Back at the ranch, the Smiling Ghost is creeping around in the basement, just looking for trouble! I'm not sure that's a smile on his face.

I like this foggy scene as our heroes search for clues to the mystery.

At the wedding, Lucky is getting a little nervous about tying the knot with Elinor... Then, the lights go out and all Hell breaks loose!

The Ghost stalks Lucky and has him trapped in the basement where he plans on doing him in!

A fight ensues and Lucky gets in a lucky punch on the menace who falls back, knocking a boat down and knocking him out cold.

They pull the mask off the Ghost and discover that it's Elinor's former fiancee, the one in the freakin' iron lung! A nice creepy twist to the mystery.

Lucky dons the mask and asks the reporter, Lil, to marry him with his back turned to Elinor!!

For some reason, Lucky starts running through the house with the mask on, stirring up a lot of trouble with Elinor's family. Norton, (Alan Hale) finds the mask on the floor and gets his hand in a mouse trap while trying to grab it.

Then, Lucky finds a shrunken head in his closet and thinks it's Clarence! But, it ain't and there's a big happy ending! Be back tomorrow when we'll have something special for y'all...