silent "dr. jekyll and mr. hyde" is the classic fable upon the irreconcible duality inside humanity, compounded by good and evil, a slight horror showcase for john barrymore to flaunt his daring trial of self-disfiguration, an applaud for the cosmetic department.
the only way to cope with our base nature, which is
symbolized as left hand, is to yield to it but concession to evil would mar the immortal purity of soul. so how should we balance it on a even scale without damaging the harmonious perfection? thus virtuously saint-alike scientist dr. jekyll chooses to discriminate his darker self into another monstrous being_mr. hyde. this marvellous transformation is made possible thru his invention of magic potion. there're various metaphors behind this legendary fable about the schizopreniac reality of human nature, the greater repression of morality causes greater frightful seed of evil, also a tale with a doctrine to condemn human's god-trespassing pride by re-incarnating oneself thru the scientic human endevor, "a sacrilege to both god and devil"....
john barrymore's impersonation upon mr. hyde is ground-smashing, considering the phenomenon of cinematic art then, and barrymore had to compulse himself into a certain type of histrionic dramaticity to impress the audience with fierce exaggerations of movements and facial expressions. the seedy mr. hyde resembles the wretched elder witch in midieval dark age, especially when hyde in spider suit creepily crawls over jekyll on bed. that sort of bizarrely expressive method could only exist in the silent age.
as for the cameo of silent vamp actress nita naldi who has the oriental looks of geisha, she emanates enough sensuality with her full-cup bosom, her radiant ebony hair, and also her characteristic gothic features. she's one of the archetyped beauties in the 20s, the vamp type, with all her smoldering exotica and her voluptuous tigress allure, she's almost as oriental as any other authentic oriental beauty, but magnified with her fearless earthy lasciviousness.
October 31, 2007
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