Du mußt Caligari werden

The Internet Source Book for Early German Film

Final update: 11.11.1999 — Editors: Olaf Brill & Thomas Schultke
We shut down. All good things must have an end. - But we'll be back. January 1, 2000. www.filmgeschichte.de


 Musical Adaptions of Horror Stories

 Finally, horror has made it from the Grand Guignol to the big stage of today's most successful musical productions. Here we give an overview of musicals adapted from classic horror stories, which are currently running. We indicate the original text, the most important filmed versions (with links to our sites) and the musical versions currently running. On February 19, 1999, there will be the big premiere of the German version of the Jekyll & Hyde musical in our home-town Bremen, therefore we start featuring Jekyll & Hyde.



 1. Jekyll & Hyde



The original story


1886 Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Allegedly based on a nightmare, Stevenson wrote his doppelganger / mad scientist novella, which would become one of the three most well-known horror stories, inspiring hundreds of stage and film versions.



The films (selected)


1920 John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
USA, John S. Robertson
The most famous silent version and first feature-length adaption of Stevenson's original script sets the standard. It combines Stevenson's tale with Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, and adds the women's characters to the story.
John Barrymore
1920 Conrad Veidt Der Januskopf
Germany, F. W. Murnau
As with Nosferatu, his other adaption of a classic horror tale, Murnau couldn't obtain the rights for the original story, so he changed the names and let Veidt act as "Dr. Warren and Mr. O'Connor".
Conrad Veidt
1932 Fredric March Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
USA, Rouben Mamoulian
Still counts as the best adaption of the subject. March won an Oscar for his brilliant performance. The transformation scene was arguably film history's first 360 degree pan.
Fredric March
1941 Spencer Tracy Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
USA,Victor Fleming
MGM's effort to outdo the 1932 Paramount version stars Tracy in the title role, also Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner.
Spencer Tracy
1960 Paul Massie The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
GB, Terence Fisher
Hammer's merciless version shows an unsympathetic Jekyll versus a charming Hyde.
Paul Massie
1963 Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens The Nutty Professor
USA, Jerry Lewis
Lewis plays both roles in this discourse about his former partner, Dean Martin: Jekyll is an ugly, clumsy Lewis-type guy, who transforms into a good-looking womanizing Martin-type Hyde.
Jerry Lewis
1975 Kirk Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Kirk Douglas and Kirk Douglas Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
GB, David Winters
He sings! Made for television, Douglas stars in this first Jekyll & Hyde Musical.
Kirk Douglas
1990 Michael Caine Jekyll & Hyde
GB/ USA, David Wickes
Wickes directed two tv mini-series in a Victorian setting, starring Caine: Jack the Ripper (1988), in which Jekyll & Hyde is performed as a stage-play, and Jekyll & Hyde itself, both hugely successful.
Michael Caine
1995 Julia Roberts, John Malkovich Mary Reilly
USA, Stephen Frears
A change of perspective: This time, the story is seen from the pov of Jekyll's house-maid, Julia Roberts. The film was adapted from a novel by Valerie Martin.
John Malkovich



The Musical


1990 Jekyll and Hyde Jekyll & Hyde
Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas
Frank Wildhorn's Musical adaption opens. After a hugely successful run, it opened on Broadway in 1995, no end in sight.
Robert Evan
1999 Jekyll and Hyde Bremen Jekyll & Hyde (German version)
Musical-Theater, Bremen, Germany
First time in Europe, the German language version opens in Bremen.
Ethan Freeman



e-mail to the Source 			Book
Back to main page
  © 1999 Brill & Schultke