E X T E N S I O N JEKYLL & HYDE PERFORMANCES Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was a story that became immediately popular. Just one year after its publication, there was a stage1 version directed by Thomas Russel Sullivan. It went on for twenty years with Richard Mansfield who continued playing the part until 1907! In 1920 John S. Robertson directed the most famous of the silent film versions. The film starred2 an inspired John Barrymore. The plot3 follows the Sullivan version of 1887, with some elements from The Picture of Dorian Gray. One of the best films came out in 1931, directed by Rouben Mamoulian. The doctor is interpreted by Fredric March who won the Academy Award. This version of the story shows Jekyll in love. There is another film adaptation of 1941 starring Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman, director Victor Fleming. The actors were very famous, but it was not considered a good version. The story has a Freudian interpretation: Harry Jekyll wants to prove that evil does not exist, that there is only madness4. 1. stage: theatre. 2. starred: had as a principal actor. 3. plot: story. 4. madness: mental illness. 69