The Doctor's Horrible Experiment
- Jean-Louis Barrault
- Teddy Bilis
- Michel Vitold
- Jean Topart
- Micheline Gary
companies
- R.T.F.
- S.O.F.I.RA.D
- August 31, 1959 (1959-08-31) (Venice Film Festival)
The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (French: Le Testament du docteur Cordelier) is a 1959 French black-and-white television film directed by Jean Renoir. It has been released in the United Kingdom as Experiment in Evil and on DVD as The Testament of Doctor Cordelier.[1] The film is a retelling of the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson set in 1950s France. Jean-Louis Barrault plays Dr. Cordelier/Opale, the substitute for Dr. Jekyll/Hyde character; the film is also known for its visual style that is far above the normal television programs of the 1950s.[2]
Plot
In Paris, the lawyer Joly is given the will of his friend and client Cordelier, a well-known psychiatrist, who leaves everything to a patient called Opale. However Joly learns that this Opale is a sadistic pervert and murderer who keeps evading the police. He even causes the death of another leading psychiatrist, Séverin, who challenged Cordelier's views. The climax comes after a smart party at Cordelier's capacious house, when he is heard howling with pain in his laboratory. Breaking in, Joly finds Opale, who admits he is really Cordelier and makes his confession. Guilt over his sexual exploitation of female staff and patients led him, by long research into mind-altering drugs, to create a separate persona through which he could enact his hidden desires without taking responsibility. Swallowing an overdose, he dies.
Cast
- Jean-Louis Barrault as Dr. Cordelier/Opale
- Teddy Bilis as Maître Joly
- Jean Bertho as Premier passant
- Jacques Ciron as Deuxième passant
- Jean Topart as Désiré
- Michel Vitold as Docteur Séverin
- Jacques Danoville as Commissaire Lardaut (as Jacques Dannoville)
- André Certes as Inspecteur Salbris
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 6 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 7.7/10.[3]
Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, praising Barrault's performance, and direction.[4]
References
- ^ "Experiment in Evil". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ Review by Shawn Levy at OregonLive.com
- ^ "The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier) (1959) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ Leonard Maltin (2015). Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 387. ISBN 978-0-14-751682-4.
External links
- The Doctor's Horrible Experiment at IMDb
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- Adaptations
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, Paramount)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, Haydon)
- Der Januskopf (1920)
- Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
- The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951)
- Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
- Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)
- The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (1959)
- The Ugly Duckling (1959)
- My Friend, Dr. Jekyll (1960)
- The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
- The Nutty Professor (1963)
- Karutha Rathrikal (1967)
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968)
- Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
- I, Monster (1971)
- Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972)
- Engal Thanga Raja (1973)
- Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)
- Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979)
- Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980)
- Docteur Jekyll et les femmes (1981)
- Chehre Pe Chehra (1981)
- Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1986)
- Edge of Sanity (1989)
- The Pagemaster (1994)
- Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995)
- Mary Reilly (1996)
- The Nutty Professor (1996)
- Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
- Jekyll & Hyde: Direct from Broadway (2001)
- Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2002)
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
- Van Helsing (2004)
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006)
- Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (2008)
- The Nutty Professor (2008)
- The Mummy (2017)
- Doctor Jekyll (2023)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1888)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Or a Mis-Spent Life (1897)
- Jekyll & Hyde (1990)
- Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde (1995–1998)
- Jekyll (2007)
- Once Upon a Time (2011–2018)
- Do No Harm (2013)
- Penny Dreadful (2014–2016)
- Jekyll and Hyde (2015)
- The Impatient Patient (1942)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse (1947)
- Motor Mania (1950)
- Dr. Jerkyl's Hide (1954)
- Hyde and Hare (1955)
- Hyde and Go Tweet (1960)
- Mad Monster Party? (1967)
- Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters (1972)
- The Pagemaster (1994)
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jiggle and Mr. Sly (2004)
- Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004)
- The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein (2008)
- Hotel Transylvania (2012)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1988)
- Jekyll and Hyde (2001)
- Van Helsing (2004)
- "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" (1983)
- "Bubba Hyde" (1995)
- Jekyll and Hyde (2003)
- Jekyll & Hyde en Español (2004)
- "Mz. Hyde" (2014)
- Mister Hyde (introduced 1963)
- Batman: Two Faces (1998)
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999–2019)
- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
- Mary Reilly (1990)
- Jekyll and Heidi (1999)
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