Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1912

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1912 · United States · Directed by Lucius J. Henderson · 12 min

StrangeTense Great first watch · Easy Horror drama

A doctor’s experiment releases an alter ego whose appetite for freedom quickly becomes violence.

What to expect

Made before the more famous Barrymore version, this short adaptation shows how early cinema could reduce Stevenson’s divided identity to posture, gesture, and an immediately legible transformation.

How to ease in

Jekyll and Hyde are one person, and the short moves quickly. Watch the body—shoulders, gait, and proximity to others—rather than expecting elaborate scientific explanation.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes addiction-like compulsion, violence, murder, and dated attitudes towards gender and morality.
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A doctor’s experiment releases an alter ego whose appetite for freedom quickly becomes violence.

The transformation is brief enough to feel like a decision before it feels like a medical event. I watch Jekyll discover how readily a new posture can become an excuse.

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The transformation is brief enough to feel like a decision before it feels like a medical event. I watch Jekyll discover how readily a new posture can become an excuse.

— Momo

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Credits & versions

Version map

Wikidata 12-minute listing12 min12 minutes reproduces the single duration stated by the source. The listing does not identify a cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration.Runtime reference · Checked 2026-08-22

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