Stan Laurel, obviously most famous for his team up with Oliver Hardy starting in 1927, had about a decade long solo career, both in front and behind the camera. Laurel joined Hal Roach in 1923 and made 25 one and two reelers that went until 1924. He then briefly left Roach and joined producer Joe Rock for a series of 12 short comedies from late 1924 into 1925. It is this time period where the subject of this review, DR. PYCKLE AND MR. PRYDE comes from.
During these pre Ollie solo years, Stan Laurel never really had a consistent character. At times he would do Sennett like slapstick and as the mid twenties rolled on, was starting to slow down his comedy, most likely due to the influence of emerging star Harry Langdon. Another common theme Laurel did was parody then contemporary movies at the time. Some examples include THE SOILERS and MUD AND SAND, parodies of THE SPOILERS and BLOOD AND SAND, respectively. DR. PYCKLE AND MR. PRYDE is a parody of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. At this point, ,there were several filmed versions, but the most famous is the 1920 Paramount version starring John Barrymore. Laurel’s Hyde (or Pryde) design does bare a comedic resemblance to Barrymore’s, with similar hair and facial expressions.
Bottom line, this is a real funny film. The actually Jekyll and Hyde deals with the separation of good and evil and is heavily rooted in violence and Victorian era sexual morality. A very intellectual story, but the intellect gets forsaken for the silly here and the film, as a comedy, is all the better for it. What are Pryde’s evil deeds? Stealing ice cream from a kid, nailing people with a pea shooter, putting a person in a Chinese finger trap - stuff like that. Laurel’s hyperactive reactions are what make it all even funnier. Not really the kind of thing we see from Stanley, but as a solo comedian, he can play over the top quite well and in this case, it’s pretty entertaining.
The transformation scene is also a lot of fun, watching Laurel gyrate and fall comically around all over the place in a way Barrymore and March wouldn’t dare. At one point, he even falls out a window into the streets and manages to fall back into his lab.
The final thing I’d like to say about this is the production values are very good here. The set design in the lab and the gothic looking English gaslight era streets are all well done and worthy of a true horror film. Definitely a plus with me. Hope you guys enjoy this one.
