The headcold persists, the car has a flat tire, the cat remains ill and the vet won’t return our phone calls. The solution?
Another movie. Of course. This time it’s The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951), a surprisingly adequate semi-sequel to the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (any of a number of productions qualify). A friend of Jekyll agrees to act as trustee for the child of Dr. Jekyll and his murdered wife once the mob has dealt with the remorseless Mr. Hyde. 30 years later, Jekyll Jr. (we’ll just call him JJ) is conducting his own research when the trustee gives him the notes of his father. JJ then sails off into madness as he continues the research.
Or does he? We’re surprised when the experiments don’t work … until they do after a mysterious addition while JJ sleeps. The result is upsetting for JJ’s fiancee, but she sticks with him. But the mystery thickens as friends of JJ’s late mother accuse him of a horrendous crime. Now the trustee, who also runs a sanatorium for the mad, must take JJ under his care .. and retain his trusteeship.
We were surprised, yet disappointed. If the writers had maintained the mystery as late as possible, it would have been much more gripping; the secret at the center of the plot is mildly clever, and that’s all that’s really needed if it’s concealed as late as possible while having likable characters. And we do like JJ and some of the other characters, including the fiancee. But we learn the secret of who’s manipulating JJ and for what reasons far too early, and so our problem-solving faculties get far too little of a workout.
But it was still fun for my negative IQ.
