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[Bud Brewster]

Interesting premise from director Seymour Friedman: the infamous Dr. Jekyll's son becomes a doctor and tries to prove that his father's infamy is undeserved.

All he manages to do is turn himself into a murderous monster. But there's a surprise ending. (Hi-light the spoiler if you want to read it.) It turns out that Hayward only imagines he becomes Mr. Hyde.

The story would have been a bit more interesting if the film makers had thought of some way to allow Dr. Jekyll, Jr. to exonerate his father, at least in some philosophical sense. Despite the quality of all Jekyll/Hyde versions, most viewers don't fully understand the real reason why Dr. Henry Jekyll turned into Edward Hyde. A little sermonizing on the subject might have been fun in a sequel of this type.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

[Bud Brewster]

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Quite true. But in his defense he started out wanting rid himself of the evil thoughts and make himself better. That didn't work out like he planned.

What happened instead was that his evil side became a separate personality in an altered version of his body (shorter and skinnier, oddly enough), and Dr. Jekyll deluded himself into thinking that when he was doing bad things as Hyde, he was not "himself", and the evil deeds weren't on his own conscience.

This, plus the fact that Hyde was the perfect disguise which prevented people from knowing who he really was, made it that much easier for him to indulge in the unnamed pleasures which his "good" side wanted to enjoy.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Rick]

Only seen this once, on an afternoon TV showing back in the '60s. I had been primed by the great shot (in Famous Monsters) of Hayward in the Hyde makeup.

When I saw what this movie was and, more importantly, what it was NOT, well . . . that was a disappointing afternoon. Not quite CURUCU-disappointing, but quite a letdown nonetheless.

I really should see it again one day, now that I'd know what I was getting into.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[Bud Brewster]

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What has always bothered me about the novel and the movie versions is the fact the "unnamed pleasures" which Henry Jekyll indulges in all seem to be acts of cruelty! Jeez, where's the fun in beating up people and tormenting a young girl?

If Edward Hyde had gone out drinking, gambling, and whoring I could understand his desire to do those things without anybody in high society knowing it was him. Lots of normal, decent men are tempted to do things like I named above, but a concern for their social standing and the marital commitments cause them to resist the temptation.

It seems to me that the twisted personality of Edward Hyde was, in a sense, the real Dr. Jekyll, and his pious outward behavior was just a front for the psychotic man he really was!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)