Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

This is the first screen adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

James Cruze's white-haired Dr. Jekyll has secretly locked himself in his laboratory administering himself with a phial of formula. He slumps into his chair with his head on his chest. Slowly, as the drug takes effect, a dark-haired, taloned beast now appears in the chair. After repeated use, Jekyll's evil alter ego emerges at will, causing Jekyll to murder his sweetheart's father. The evil personality scuttles back to the laboratory only to discover that the antidote is finished and that he will be as Mr. Hyde forever. A burly policeman breaks down Jekyll's door to find that the kindly doctor is dead after taking poison.

This story of split personality, has Dr. Jekyll a kind and charitable man who believes that everyone has two sides, one good and one evil. Using a potion, his personalities are split, creating havoc.

At the first transformation starts with Jekyll's butler exclaiming that Jekyll is now "the Apostle from Hell!" Hyde, complete with fangs and scraggy hair skulks through the city committing such heinous acts as stealing a woman's purse. The police eventually catch up with Hyde, interrogate him, put him in gaol and strap him to the electric chair. Sitting in his chair at home, Jekyll awakes from his nightmare to declare, "I believe in God! I have a soul..." and decides not to create the chemical potion.

Dr. Jekyll (Spencer Tracy) believes good and evil exist in everyone. Experiments reveal his evil side, named Mr. Hyde. Experience teaches him how evil Hyde can be: he kills Ivy (Ingrid Bergman), who earlier expressed interest in Jekyll, and Sir Charles (Donald Crisp), Dr. Jekyll's fiancee's father. At the end of the film, Dr. Jekyll's best friend Dr. Lanyon (Ian Hunter) shoots and kills Mr. Hyde, causing Jekyll to die as well. Poole, Dr. Jekyll's butler, begins to say a prayer for his late master, ending the film.