Directed by John S. Robertson • 1920 • United States
Starring John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst, Martha Mansfield

Considered by many to be the first great American horror film, John S. Robertson’s DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE allowed stage legend John Barrymore to deliver one of his most virtuosic screen performances. Blending historic charm with grim naturalism, dramatic brilliance with gruesome thrills, this silent version is one of the more faithful of the many screen adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s story (though greatly influenced by T. R. Sullivan’s popular stage treatment), recounting a visionary scientist’s ill-fated attempts to unleash the human mysteries that dwell beneath the shell of the civilized self.