Frederick March or Spencer Tracy?
Which was the better? I'd say that Frederick March was the better of the two, but Lana Turner's performance in the later version helped equalize the two movies...IMHO
shareI agree. March is simply the definitive Dr. Jekyl/Hyde. However I feel that Miriam Hopkins brings so much to this film that she really should receive equal merit. Tracey's Jekyl/Hyde is comatose by comparison. Spencer holds back far too much and is unbelievable in the end.
shareI just recently saw both films.
First, I saw the Tracey version. I thought him to be all right but sort of boring. What stood out to me was Ingrid Bergman. Her performance (to me) made the movie.
Second, I saw the March version. His portrayal was far superior. As were both female supporting actors. I would highly recomend this version as the better one. The directing and special effect were better as well, which suprised me because it was made so much earlier.
There are no happy endings, because nothing ends.
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I agree, there's no match betwewen Fredric March and Spencer Tracy. Fredric March is so.....visceral; he gets into every pore in your body, every thought in your head, you want to bust open your soul and have Freddie's soul move in and cuddle up. Tracy is, at best, an oft-amusing chap who plays roles in movies that don't grate on your nerves too bad. Yep, christiandoig, you are right ... nooooo match between FM and ST at all! :)
Tracy's performance is underrated, because it's so subtle. It's all in the eyes. You can see every emotion both facets of Jekyll/Hyde feel. The scene in the fog, where he first transforms unwillingly, is simply beyond March's ability at any time during a brilliant career. March's Jekyll is almost a match for Tracy's, but his Hyde is all physical, without any of the evil Tracy shows in every least facial gesture. Nothing March does equals the hellish fury of Tracy's Hyde as he prepares to murder Ivy. This is to say nothing against March. Both men had stellar careers, but March didn't have the benefit of the Actor's Studio training where Tracy learned to inhabit a role from the inside out. They lock horns wonderfully, later in their careers, in "Inherit The Wind." I wouldn't want to have been without either of them, but as Jekyll/Hyde, Tracy wins. Just MHO.
shareTracy's performance is underrated, because it's so subtle. It's all in the eyes. You can see every emotion both facets of Jekyll/Hyde feel. The scene in the fog, where he first transforms unwillingly, is simply beyond March's ability at any time during a brilliant career. March's Jekyll is almost a match for Tracy's, but his Hyde is all physical, without any of the evil Tracy shows in every least facial gesture. Nothing March does equals the hellish fury of Tracy's Hyde as he prepares to murder Ivy.
Tracy was a hell of a lot better actor than March, as well. The March version of the film suffers from being made in an era in which American filmmakers hadn't yet discovered that films were an unique medium, rather than just recorded stage plays. Mamoulian makes a much better movie overall, but it's crippled by the over-the-top-of-the-top melodrama and insane overacting (characteristic of that inability to distinguish the stage from the screen). March was also saddled with that awful make-up job, the most idiotic idea in the movie ("Hey, he's supposed to be a bad guy--let's make him look like King Kong instead of a human being"). The Mamoulian movie is better, but Spencer Tracy beats March to a pulp in the role.
The March version was on TCM last night and film buff that I am, I'm almost embarrased that I missed it. I saw your comment above (albeit a year old), but I have to agree that her performance was amazing. She always had a tendecy to overact and upstage the other actor, but she underplayed this (given the times too) beautifully.
I liked that the film was pre-Code too. It got away with much more had it been released after 1934. While still tame by our standards,it's still pretty darned explicit.
Having finally now seen both, I think March wins. While the makeup is too much on a lot of levels, it makes sense. However, I do like the subtler change in character, as opposed to visage, in the Tracy version. However, Tracy underplays it too much. March would have been able to handle either version (and I'm a huge Tracy fan).