This is one of the first adaptations for screen of Robert Louis Stevenson's book with the same name. In 1908 a film was made by Otis Turner, 1910 August Blom, the Danish director, made an adaptation in Danish called 'Den Skæbnesvangre Opfindelse', 1912 Lucius Henderson directed another version and in 1913 Herbert Brenon and (the more famous), producer Carl Laemmle made their contributions.
Most of you know the story around the scientist who tries to unveil the 'darker' sides of humanity and in doing so, more and more alienates himself from his more 'civilized' (a rather ambiguous) or less violent persona.
Stevensons's story was written during a period when the discoveries and questionable 'progresses' within science was becoming hotly debated and the questions concerning whether or not man had the ambition to become God came to the surface.
The book and the adaptations for film, do also use some psychological material even though the works by the 'Godfather' Sigmund Freud hadn't reach universal fame. We do have different 'characters' or 'natures' within us, fighting to uphold a certain equilibrium, not least towards the 'world' around us. These ideas where by no means invented by Freud or Jung and their disciples, on the contrary, the different personas in our human nature is something having been dealt with in theatres and literature from antiquity up till now.
To reconnect to to the above notion about 'civilized' or not: What is it being civilized and what is the difference between being civilized or only governed by social rules in a society and is this always desirable?
In this film we see one of the foremost actors of the time, John Barrymore, creating the double character and in doing so we find some theatrical manners but as a whole it's quite a nice and sometimes - because of the theatrical acting - rather humourous film.
Most of you know the story around the scientist who tries to unveil the 'darker' sides of humanity and in doing so, more and more alienates himself from his more 'civilized' (a rather ambiguous) or less violent persona.
Stevensons's story was written during a period when the discoveries and questionable 'progresses' within science was becoming hotly debated and the questions concerning whether or not man had the ambition to become God came to the surface.
The book and the adaptations for film, do also use some psychological material even though the works by the 'Godfather' Sigmund Freud hadn't reach universal fame. We do have different 'characters' or 'natures' within us, fighting to uphold a certain equilibrium, not least towards the 'world' around us. These ideas where by no means invented by Freud or Jung and their disciples, on the contrary, the different personas in our human nature is something having been dealt with in theatres and literature from antiquity up till now.
To reconnect to to the above notion about 'civilized' or not: What is it being civilized and what is the difference between being civilized or only governed by social rules in a society and is this always desirable?
In this film we see one of the foremost actors of the time, John Barrymore, creating the double character and in doing so we find some theatrical manners but as a whole it's quite a nice and sometimes - because of the theatrical acting - rather humourous film.
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