MovieChat Forums > Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) Discussion > Question about first transformation scen...

Question about first transformation scene...

posted 17 years ago by stevenbyczek
7 replies | jump to latest

According to the IMDB: "During the first transformation scene, the accompanying noises on the soundtrack included portions of Bach, a gong being played backwards, painting on the track, and, reportedly, a recording of director Rouben Mamoulian's own heart."

Is there a typographical error in this sentence? Did the folks at the IMDB really mean to say "painting" on the track (as in applying paint on the film itself with a brush), or "panting" on the track (as in audio recordings of Jekyll's voice as he transforms into Hyde)? When I watch the transformation scene, I can hear a man panting (not sure if it is Frederic March's voice though) so I would assume it is the latter, and that the IMDB did indeed make a mistake.

Thank you in advance!

Sincerely, Steve.

[–] dkrentzlin 17 years ago

No, "painting" is not a typo. According to most sources, they did, indeed, apply paint to the sound strip on the side of the celluloid. (It's also known as "optical sound.")

[–] stevenbyczek 17 years ago

Wow!

Fascinating stuff!

Thanks!

Cheers!

Sincerely, Steve B.

[–] stevenbyczek 17 years ago

P.S. Does anybody have a link that explains "optical sound?"

Thanks!

Cheers!

Sincerely, Steve B.

[–] IntoThePaintedGrey 16 years ago

What are you guys talking about? It does not say "painting".

[–] stevenbyczek 16 years ago

It did originally. The phrase about "painting" was removed.

[–] bok602 14 years ago

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that whatever the original reference said, it was meant to say "panting" because if you listen, someone on the audio track is clearly panting (almost orgasmically) when the images of Ivy flit by.

"If you don't know the answer -change the question."

[–] stevenbyczek 14 years ago

You are probably right. But instead of changing the word "painting" to "panting", the IMDB deleted the word all together.

Thanks!

Cheers!