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When Was This Lost ? Plus: Rating , And Missing Scenes !!!!!

posted 17 years ago by jgbook2007
4 replies | jump to latest

I remember an old issue of " CASTLE OF FRANKENSTIEN " horror fan magazine (in the 1960s) having an article about this film , DJ&MH'31 , being discovered , after being a lost film for many years , and being shown , I believe at MOMA .
So , in other words , this was a lost film for - how many ????????? - years .
When I saw it theatrically , recently , incidentally:
(1) The print dated from an early-70s ( Thus , post-the rediscovery . ) theatrical reissue - and had an MPAA ratings card at the very beginnging ! A " G " , no less !!!!!!!!!
(2) However , I had the impression some footage might've been missing from this version . I'll go into more detail later , but...

[–] mercutio-8 17 years ago

That magazine is referring to what was then the severely edited version.

The 1931 version "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was bought by MGM in the early '40s, so there would be no "competition" or comparing to the Spencer Tracy version they were producing.

It has since been restored and released on DVD, which, ironically, also features the 1940s remake!

[–] jgbook2007 17 years ago

...Well , the version I saw had an MGM title card at the end of a 40s design , not a Paramount one .
So , it was at least prepared for release at one time as an MGM in the pre-tV era ?????????
Also - SPOILERS - this print that I saw seemed to be missing a little detail about , oooohh , 75-80% of the way through .
At that point:
March took the serum , and became Hyde again , going out , and scaring Miriam Hopkins - but , eventually footing the bill for her to move into better lodging at the same landlady's ( which she is in at the end of the movie ) , and we see a general montage of Hyde running around , doing sinful/naughty things all over town .
Later , , much is made of March involuntarily turning into Hyde - in the park?? - and again , at the very end , when he is under pursuit from the force - But this montage seems to say that remains Hyde for - weeks?? at this poi8nt , but never spells it out .
Why should we be suprised if he involuntarily turns back to Hyde later ?? Why didn't the movie set this up more ??
Perhaps it's footage that had been cut out over the years , maybe not for Code demands ( The painting on Hopkins' wall still remains !!!!! ) , just for length/getting lost...
And , you are saying that a full version of some sort , but a s. e. one , is what existed until 1967 , and this 1967 showing was of a " rediscovered " opening night cut ???????
I've only seen the article reffed to , I haven't read the piece myself .

[–] mercutio-8 17 years ago

Hmmm.
When I first saw the film in the early '80s, I now seem to remember that there WAS the MGM lion logo.
This would make sense since MGM 'owned' the film by buying it (though not creating it.)

The version I saw was edited. It did NOT have the montage of Hyde running around London.

As for Jekyll turning into Hyde without the potion, it IS setup in the RESTORED version. Jekyll is sitting in the park watching and listening to a bird chirping. Then a black cat creeps into view. Jekyll tries to stop it, but sees the cat catch and eat the bird. THIS is what triggers the emotional response to become Mr. Hyde, as well as being an analogy (the light being devoured by the dark).

[–] jgbook2007 15 years ago

...The Wikipedia page for the film states that , when MGM bought up the film to make way for their Spencer Tracy remake , they destroyed all copies they could find if thhis version , and that the '31 was thought lost for many years !!!!!
( However , the fact of the version I saw having an MGM logo in the credits , suggesting that the pre-TV MGM did at least prepare it for release at some point , still remains . )