This tatty and cluttered interior
Ain't the flat of a mother superior
Here she'll sleep but won't rest,
'Cause this creep-o's a pest
The rat digs her slutty exterior.
Miriam Hopkins is dominated by Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ( 1931).
In opening scene you'll detect
A mirror that seems to reflect
The leading man's face
In camera's place --
A simple but special effect.
Donald B. Benson
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) begins with a long and impressive POV shot, including a moment when a mirror shows not the camera but Dr. Jekyll and his butler. The trick? An empty frame, with the actors playing their reflections.
He woos with a terrible ardor His floozy is scared that he's scarred her With his strange, brutish passion Her brains he may bash in She'll bruise if squeezed very much harder.
David Cairns
Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).
This Edward's not much for finesse You dread ev'ry touch and caress One glance in his mouth And romance headed south In your bed in his clutch you're a mess.
Fredric March as Edward Hyde and Miriam Hopkins as Ivy Pearson in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).
Young Jekyll has learning and status, And flaunts his self-righteousness at us. But we're more impressed A tart got undressed To grant him a fondle for gratis.
Donald B. Benson
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931). Ivy Pearson (Miriam Hopkins) exaggerates the severity of her injury to get an examination from Dr. Henry Jekyll (Fredric March).
The ladies are tempting the doc One's shady, unkempt in her frock The other's a pippin But he turns to a Crippen A jaded, contemptible crock.
David Cairns
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931): Miriam Hopkins is prostitute Ivy Pierson, and Rose Hobart is Jekyll's fiancée Muriel Carew, the "pippin", meaning "an excellent person or thing." Hawley Harvey Crippen, known as Dr. Crippen, was a homeopath convicted of murdering his wife in 1910.
From handsome to creep, rearranged
Once dandy, now deeply deranged
Though he shows no improvement
He knows where his groove went
Like a grandstanding Streep, how he's changed!
David Cairns
Fredric March undergoes a transformation in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).
Though it seems like they've only just met
The poor singer's beginning to sweat
Since he eyed Ivy's show
Edward Hyde won't take "no"
And that gleam in his eye is a threat.
Miriam Hopkins is caught in the grip of Fredric March, playing both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).
Hyde's painting the town bloody-red
With a cane he strikes down on your head
Cracking skulls brings him joy
Jack's no dull kind of boy
But his brain is unsound, poor old Ed.
David Cairns
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian;1931). Fredric March stars as Henry Jekyll and his evil side, Edward Hyde. The film is an adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886.
As Hopkins is swaying her calf
A fop stops appraising to laugh
But nested within
Is a cesspit of sin
Jekyll's stroppy, arcane other half.
David Cairns
Music hall singer Ivy Pearson (Miriam Hopkins) catches the eye of Dr. Henry Jekyll (Fredric March, off), in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).Limerick Lexicon: Stroppy: Chiefly British. Easily offended or annoyed; ill-tempered or belligerent.
The good man is cure for what's ailing her, But only as boor he's been nailing her. His morals decree A dichotomy. This system for sure will be failing her.
Donald B. Benson
Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).
Mr. Hyde's a mean bastard when dating
He's snide and he's nasty and grating
Yes, he'll get you a flat
But don't let in the rat
He'll sidle up fast and try mating.
Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931). Title by rent-to-groan Donald B. Benson.
She's installed in an elegant pad
But this moll's forced to dwell with a cad
The décor might be festive
But it's whorish, suggestive
And her caller is eldritch and mad.
David Cairns
Fredric March as Mr. Hyde and Miriam Hopkins as music hall singer (and we know what that meant Pre-Code) Ivy Pearson in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931).
On man's nature the doc had his doubts
Human traits he most worried about
Are we decent or bad?
Men of peace, or all cad?
This libation will sort it all out.
James Finn Garner
Fredric March stirs up trouble in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931). Author James Finn Garner is the fertile fiend behind the Rex Koko, Clown Detective series, and Bardball, the website of baseball poetry.
One sip and he's something to see
You'll flip and then probably flee
He bends in contortions
And ends with distortions
His lips like the great Edward G.
Fredric March transforms into his monstrous, inner self in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931), evoking the massive maw of Edward G. Robinson, shown here in another Pre-Code film, Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy;1931).
The beast that was chained up within Is released from his brain, through his skin For the potion he drank Makes emotions turn rank An indecent, arcane Mickey Finn.
David Cairns
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian; 1931), a Pre-Code horror film starring Fredric March.
The soul of the doc is coal black
Keeps control of his flock by whip's crack
Those who rule by the sword
By their tools will be gored
And Moreau gets a shock--don't look back.
Parting shot: Mr. Montgomery (Arthur Hohl), Edward Parker (Richard Arlen), and Ruth Thomas (Leila Hyams) escape from Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton; 1932). Title by word surgeon Donald B. Benson.
Revolution! The beasts are revolting!
Evolution has ceased, now they're moulting!
Fur will fly, heads will roll
Laughton dies, a lost soul
Execution by feast, rather jolting.
David Cairns
Charles Laughton's Doctor Moreau is attacked by his mutated, half-human beast-men. Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton; 1932).
Once happy and free in the wild,
They're trapped, shipped by sea, then defiled
But the doc's so sadistic
That his flock goes ballistic
The poor sap got the beastie boys riled.
The beast-men grow restless in Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton; 1932).