To judge by the commentary on the DVD. the screenwriters expanded the role of Gray, the cab man, played wonderfully by Boris Karloff, from what it had been in the original Stevenson short story. It seems that they had the ingenious idea of creating a Jekyll-Hyde relationship between the body snatcher Gray and the respectable doctor; who did, however, pay for the freshly buried corpses Gray had "resurrected" . They also created a kind of moral ambiguity, in which good and evil are intermixed in the two characters. For instance: the evil body snatcher Gray is able to carry the little girl from his cab into the doctor's home,but she shrinks back from the doctor himself.
It turns out that years before Gray had taken the blame for the doctor in an earlier case of grave robbing, and been stoned as he ran through the streets. The doctor now despises him, but is ready to employ him for his own benefit. (It is mentioned that another doctor who had been implicated in the crime was living a comfortable life in London.) Karloff, in my view, is able to create an almost sympathetic character, while Daniell exudes the screen personality that made him a renowned portrayer of villainous roles in other film. There are two places where I infer the possible intent of the writers. At one point, both doctor and cab man are seen side-by-side in a close-up. looking into a mirror. Then, toward the close, after their final confrontation when the doctor has killed the cab man, he is next seen returning to his laboratory wearing the cab man's hat and cloak. Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Stevenson's greatest short story, is an example of the "divided self" motif present in 19th century literature (cf. Faust and Mephistopheles). The two characters merge in the ambiguity of good and evil, and suggest its presence in all of us.
It turns out that years before Gray had taken the blame for the doctor in an earlier case of grave robbing, and been stoned as he ran through the streets. The doctor now despises him, but is ready to employ him for his own benefit. (It is mentioned that another doctor who had been implicated in the crime was living a comfortable life in London.) Karloff, in my view, is able to create an almost sympathetic character, while Daniell exudes the screen personality that made him a renowned portrayer of villainous roles in other film. There are two places where I infer the possible intent of the writers. At one point, both doctor and cab man are seen side-by-side in a close-up. looking into a mirror. Then, toward the close, after their final confrontation when the doctor has killed the cab man, he is next seen returning to his laboratory wearing the cab man's hat and cloak. Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Stevenson's greatest short story, is an example of the "divided self" motif present in 19th century literature (cf. Faust and Mephistopheles). The two characters merge in the ambiguity of good and evil, and suggest its presence in all of us.
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