Alastair Reid directs a very arty BBC dramatisation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A portly David Hemmings stars as Dr Jekyll examining the duality of man.
This doctor visits the slums of London and the whiorehouses within it. He has devised a strange concoction that has created an alter ego.
Mr Hyde is a younger more virile man. One who is short tempered and attracts the attention of Ann Coggeshall (Lisa Harrow.) She is Jekyll's fiance but seems to be enchanted by this blackhearted blaggard.
Shot on video, this is not a television movie but more of a hybrid drama and stage play.
Reid with his lead actor Hemmings has gone for something different. When we first see Hyde, he talks to the camera while adopting a strange stance.
The adaptation is not wholly successful. The ending was weak and drawn out.
I thought it was too uneven and arty. It does get its social points across. Poverty in London, women and girls driven to prostitution.
