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Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Jay Warren, Chicago’s foremost photoplay organist, brings color, excitement, & glamour of the silent film era back to life with his original scores for Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

An important but often overlooked part of silent film history is the uniquely American phenomenon known as the theater organ. Tonally superior to the piano, and more spontaneous than an orchestra, these instruments were installed throughout theaters across the nation by the thousands during the hey-day of silent pictures. Able to produce the sounds of an orchestra, complete with tuned percussion instruments and sound effects - they became the workhorse of silent picture music –‘the voice of the silent screen.’ Enjoy the same thrilling sound of the pipe organ from Hollywood’s golden age with organist Jay Warren’s digital theater organ - sampled note-by-note from a real-live Wurlitzer pipe organ!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – the classic 1920 horror silent film based upon Robert Louis Stevenson's famed story The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Under the direction of John S. Robertson, and with the stunning performance of John Barrymore, the film drops into the inner well of depravity that is the tragic Mr. Edward Hyde. 

Dr. Henry Jekyll (John Barrymore), physician and scientist, is a professional of highest standards. Totally engaged in trying to discover new cures for old diseases, he dedicates time and skills at his free clinic, tending to the impoverished. A colleague, Sir George Carew (Brandon Hurst) takes the good doctor to a sleazy dance hall for a rare evening of merriment. For the first time in his life, Jekyll discovers the temptation of sin. Intrigued and fascinated, he concocts a potion that allows him to indulge in acts through an alternate personality – the horrid Mr. Hyde – who becomes darker and more violent as he takes more and more control….

Directed by John S. Robertson |1920

Cast: John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst, Nita Naldi

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