Docteur Jekyll et les femmes (1981)

Country of Origin: France / West Germany
Year of Production: 1981
Running Times: 90 mins (UK)     92 mins
Format: Fujicolor
Ratio:
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Allegro Productions / Multimedia Gesellschaft für Audiovisuelle Information mbH / Whodunit Productions
Executive Producer: Ralph Baum
Producers: Robert Kuperberg, Jean-Pierre Labrande
Production Manager: Martine Alleton

SCRIPT
Script: Walerian Borowczyk
Novel: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

DIRECTION
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Assistant Director: Roland Fruytier

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Noël Véry
Camera Operator: Jean-Pierre Platel

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Khadicha Bariha
Assistant Editor: Hamida Mekki

MUSIC
Music: Bernard Parmegiani

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Gérard Barra
Sound Re-Recordist: Alex Pront

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Christine Fornelli
Costume Designer: Piet Bolscher
Wardrobe: Jacqueline Kofman

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Crescendo Production

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Set Designer: Walerian Borowczyk

MISCELLANEOUS
Production Assistant: Anny Bartanowski

CAST
Udo Kier (Dr Henry Jekyll)
Marina Pierro (Miss Fanny Osbourne)
Patrick Magee (General)
Gérard Zalcberg (Mr Hyde)
Howard Vernon (Dr Lanyon)
Clément Harari (Reverend Donald Regan)
Jean Mylonas
Eugene Braun Munk
Louis-Michel Colla
Catherine Coste
Rita Maiden
Michèle Maze
Agnès Daems
Magali Noaro
Dominique Andersen
Isabelle Cagnat
Gisèle Préville

PLOT SUMMARY

During the engagement party of Dr Henry Jekyll and Fanny Osborne, attended by many representatives of the state and the establishment, the guests are horrified to learn that a child has been murdered in the street nearby. Jekyll alters his will, insisting that everything now be left to a mysterious Mr Hyde. A dancer turns up horribly murdered. Then things start to get really nasty...

AVAILABILITY

Canada
Theatrical Distributors: Citadel Films
Video Distributors: Top Video

Sweden
Theatrical Distributors: DMEG AB

USA
Theatrical Distributor: New Realm

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: K-18

UK
The film has suffered badly in Britain, though not always at the hands of the censors. All references to Hyde's prodigious sexual organs are missing, the murder of the little girl has been severely trimmed, the doctors examining the dancer's body is missing completely, the scenes of the General whipping his daughter are truncated, two shots of mutilated bodies in the wreckage of the house after Hyde and Fanny burn it down have been removed and the murder of Fanny's mother has been shortened.

Almost all of these cuts have been made by nervous distributors - the BBFC claims only to have asked for 44 seconds of cuts, though clearly much more than that is missing from all UK prints. Worst of all is a video release titled Bloodbath of Dr Jekyll, which makes a startling jump cut from the murder of the little girl to the aftermath of Hyde's attack on the dancer - thus loosing 26 minutes!

AWARDS

1981
Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Clavel Medalla Sitges en Plata de Ley Dorada: Best Director (Walerian Borowczyk) - winner

TIMELINE

1981
June
17: France - theatrical release

September
18: Finland - theatrical release

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Blood of Dr Jekyll
Bloodlust - US video title
Dr Jekyll and His Wives
Dr Jekyll and His Women - US title
Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Dr Jekyll en zijn vrouwen - Dutch title
Nel profondo del delirio - Italian title
The Blood of Doctor Jekyll
The Bloodbath of Doctor Jekyll - UK video title
The Experiment - UK video title
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Lady Osbourne
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Tri Jekyll ja Mr Hyde - Finnish title
Walerian Borowczyk: Tri Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Finnish title

LINKS

SEE ALSO
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1953)
Biblioteca di Studio Uno: Il dottor Jeckill e mister Hide (1964)
Dottor Jekyll e gentile signora (1979)
Dr Jekyll and Mistress Hyde (2003)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1908)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1912)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1913)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920a)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920b)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1932)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1968)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1973)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1981)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1999)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2002a)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2002b)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Mouse (1947)
Dr Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995)
Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
Edge of Sanity (1989)
El extraño caso del hombre y la bestia (1951)
Gentleman Jekyll and Driver Hyde (1950)
El hombre y la bestia (1973)
I, Monster (1971)
Der Januskopf (1920)
Jekyll (2004)
Jekyll + Hyde (2005)
Jekyll and Hyde (1990)
Jekyll and Hyde (1995)
Jekyll and Hyde (2000)
Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982)
Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical (2001)
Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde (1995)
Mary Reilly (1996)
Mighty Mouse Meets Jekyll and Hyde Cat (1944)
A Modern Jekyll and Hyde (1913)
Naughty Dr Jekyll (1973)
Nightmare Classics (1989)
Den skæbnesvangre opfindelse (1910)
Strannaya istoriya doktora Dzhekila i mistera Khayda (1985)
Suspense (1949)
Teenage Jekyll and Hyde (1963)
Le testament du Docteur Cordelier (1959)
The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hide (1972)
The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Rock 'n Roll Musical (2003)
The Duality of Man (1910)
The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio (1972)
The Man with Two Heads (1972)
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1989)
The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960)
The Ugly Duckling (1959)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

City Limits no.176 (15 - 21 February 1985) p.20 (UK)
review (by Kim Newman)

L'Écran Fantastique no.198 (1981) p.76 (France)
review

Film Francais no.1831 (7 November 1980) p.13 (France)
credits

Premiere no.47 (February 1981) pp.26-27 (UK)
review

BOOKS

Hoffman's Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.111
credits, review

OTHER SOURCES

Sex, Shocks and Sadism p.16
review

KEYWORDS

children, dancers, doctors, generals, gore, human experiments, jekyll and hyde, lawyers, mad scientists, military, monsters, orgies, parties, priests, sadism, sex, soldiers, transformations

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008