Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde: Difference between revisions

| starring = [[Bernie Casey]]<br>[[Rosalind Cash]]<br>[[Marie O'Henry]]<br>[[Ji-Tu Cumbuka]]<br>[[Milt Kogan]]<br>[[Stu Gilliam]]

'''''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde''''' is a 1976 American [[blaxploitation]] [[horror films|blaxploitation horror film]] loosely inspired by the 1886 [[novella]] ''[[Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Case-Jekyll-Chump-Change/dp/1640320334/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=|title=The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde|first=Robert Louis|last=Stevenson|author-link=Robert Louis Stevenson|publisher=Chump Change Publishing|location=[[Denver]]|edition=[[Longmans, Green & Co.]] orig.|orig-year=1886|year=2017|isbn=978-1640320338}}</ref> The film stars [[Bernie Casey]] and [[Rosalind Cash]], and was directed by [[William Crain (filmmaker)|William Crain]],.<ref>{{Cite nameweb |title="Dr. Black, and Mr. Hyde">{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/486788/Drdr-Blackblack-and-Mrmr-Hyde/full-credits.html|title=Dr.hyde Black, Mr. Hyde|workaccess-date=[[Turner2023-05-12 Classic Movies]]|publisherwebsite=[[Turnerwww.tcm.com Broadcasting System]]|locationlanguage=United States|access-date=March 5, 2018en}}</ref> who had also directed the successful ''[[Blacula]]'' for [[American International Pictures]] in [[1972 in film|1972]]. Along with Crain, theand filmit was written by [[Larry LeBron]] and [[Lawrence Woolner]] with cinematography by [[Tak Fujimoto]]. The movieIt was filmed primarily in [[Los Angeles and]], at locations such as the [[Watts Towers]]. Along with other blaxploitation films, ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' is filled with themes surrounding ideas of race, class and Black Power, yet it is unique in that the film depicts these themes through the genre of horror.

In Los Angeles, Dr. Henry Pride ([[Bernie Casey]]) is an accomplished, and wealthy, [[African Americans|African American]] medical doctor working on a cure for [[Cirrhosis|cirrhosis of the liver]] along with his colleague, Dr. Billie Worth ([[Rosalind Cash]]). Desperate to create this remedy, Pride conducts unethical experiments on others and himself, which turns Pridehim into a white-skinned [[Frankenstein in popular culture|Frankenstein]]ian monster with superhuman strength and invincibility. Pride begins toa rampagespree throughout Watts, killing [[Prostitution|prostitute]]s and [[Procuring (prostitution)|pimp]]s. After not being able to test his remedy on Linda ([[Marie O'Henry]]), Pridehe goescontinues on ahis rampage, which results in him being chased down by the police. Cornered at the Watts Towers, Pridehe attempts to escape by climbing up the towers, which leads to the police gunning him down and causing him to fall to his death.

* [[Marie O'Henry]] as Linda Monte

* [[Ji-Tu Cumbuka]] as Lt.Lieutenant Jackson

* [[Milt Kogan]] as Lt.Lieutenant Harry O'Connor

* [[Stu Gilliam]] as "Silky", theThe pimpPimp

* [[Della Thomas]] as Bernice Watts

''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' is one of many films which constitutesconstitute the blaxploitation genre. Specifically, it was part of the blaxploitation horror genre that came about in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the box office success of American International Pictures’ ''Blacula'', which was also directed by William Crain. With ''Blacula''{{-'}}s success, American International Pictures saw a new opportunity to produce classic horror films with black actors and actresses to attract a new black moviegoing audience. As a result, the production company wanted to play off the classic story and horror film ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931 film)|Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]''. According to [[Harry M. Benshoff]], many of the films that were part of the blaxploitation genre exhibited similar themes and symbols to other blaxploitation movies such as “references to the [[Black Panther Party|Black Panthers]], [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentric]] style, [[soul food]], white racism (both institutionalized and personal), and urban ghetto life".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Benshoff|first=Harry|author-link=Harry Benshoff|date=2000|title=Blaxploitation Horror Films: Generic Reappropriation or Reinscription?|jstor=1225551|journal=Cinema Journal|volume=39|issue=2|publisher=University of Texas Press on behalf of the Society for Cinema & Media Studies|pages=37–39|doi=10.1353/cj.2000.0001}}</ref> ''Dr, Black, Mr. Hyde'' exhibits many of these qualities that have been seen throughout the blaxploitation genre of the 1960s and 1970s.

[[Cynthia Erb]] delves into many different aspects and themes of ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'', while also discussing the blaxploitation horror genre, in her book titled, ''Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture''. Erb pointswrites to howthat the blaxploitation genre was plagued with many different problems, yetbut despite these problems, there weredid alwayshave key points of strength. The same can be said for ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde''. ErbShe thinks that the film only showcasescontains unneededgratuitous nudity and racial stereotypes because it mustto align with the “commercial obligation” whichexpected soof manythe blaxploitation films fell victim togenre. ErbShe finds the social message of ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' to be one of its strengths; as for most of the film, Crain focuses on “using the horror framework to treat... pressing social themes.” Despite this strength, the opening scene can be problematic as it “places visual emphasis on Linda’s nudity” as if it were trying to meet that “commercial obligation” of any other blaxploitation film.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkMlXTDR_q8C&dqq=%22Dr.+Black,+Mr.+Hyde%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s|title=Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture|last=Erb|first=Cynthia|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0814334300|pages=204–207}}</ref>

A subtle, but also very important, part of the film that goes unnoticed by many scholars is how Dr. Pride attempts to use Linda and others as involuntary test subjects for his remedy. At one point in the film, Pride takes Linda back to his house after a date, where she refuses to be tested on; subsequently, Pridehe asks,: "What if I insist?". In his book, ''Educational Institutions in Horror Film: A History of Mad Professors, Student Bodies, and Final Exams,'' Andrew L. Grunzke acknowledges how this is eerily similar to the [[Tuskegee syphilis experiment]]s. Grunzke adds that the "horrors of the Tuskegee experiments were a major impetus for the development of modern research ethics. An African American doctor willing to violate those ethical rules created a highly charged situation in the film."<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Educational Institutions in Horror Film: A History of Mad Professors|last=Grunzke|first=Andrew|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2015|isbn=978-1137469199}}</ref> Because of this connotation, Pride reinforces how other African Americans are uneasy with him in that they question the authenticity of his blackness.<ref name=":3" />

Grunzke also argues that ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' provides commentary on evolutionary arguments for slavery by depicting Pride-as-Hyde with "ape-like features, body hair and the like." Being more akin to a Frankenstein monster than a Mr. Hyde, Pride is capitalizing on "the ways that the Frankenstein narrative was embraced by the African American community to turn the tables on this misguided Darwinist argument" - that misguided argument being that African Americans were inferior and thus should be enslaved. By appearing as a white man to the other characters, it appears that Crain is attempting to depict the white man in a black world as being bestial<ref name=":3" /> By being more Frankenstein-esque, Pride gains sympathy from the audience as he struggles with being in an unknown world -, despite being white when he is Mr. Hyde. Grunzke's argument stems from Elizabeth Young's argument in her book, ''Black Frankenstein: The Making of an American Metaphor''. In Young's book, she argues that the Frankenstein monster "refuses to accept his placelessness". The idea of the Frankenstein monster can be appropriated toby African Americans as an idea where the monster is placed in an unknown land and society, and he must react violently to escape the treachery of that society. That metaphor is embraced by the African American community because of how they were forced into a society where they were treated as monsters. In the case of this film, however, the monster is a white man navigating a black world in Watts. The metaphor of the film is complicated further as it is a monster who changes from being black to white.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Black Frankenstein: The Making of an American Metaphor|last=Young|first=Elizabeth|publisher=New York University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0814797167|location=New York}}</ref>

== Race, class, and Black Power themes ==

Being a blaxploitation film, ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' speaks to many different issues in American and global society concerning race, class, and the [[Black Power movement|Black Power Movement]]. Especially in the blaxploitation horror subgenre, there is more symbolism in the monster that the movie depicts. Benshoff notes that while horror movie monsters were usually meant to scare and incite fear in the audience, "many blaxploitation horror films reappropriated the mainstream cinema’s monstrous figures for black goals, turning [[vampire]]s, Frankenstein monsters, and transformation monsters into agents of black pride and black power". The audience would be directed by the film to be more sympathetic of whoever the monster was – usually a "black avenger" who would be in conflict with a racist and oppressive society.<ref name=":0" /> In the case of ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'', that monster is the character of Dr. Henry Pride, who the audience is supposed to admire and like.

Whether intentional or not, Crain’s depiction of Pride is very much like that of the original [[King Kong]] character. Pride is constantly trying to tip-toe the line of a space between black and white, where he struggles to maintain footing in both worlds. Pride’sHis struggle is cognizant of King Kong’s in how Pridehe must navigate his own divide between the “white affluent areas around [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] and sections of Watts inhabited by a black underclass."<ref name=":1" />

As Pride navigates between two spaces and two sides throughout the entire film, the ending is a scene directly taken from ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]''. As PrideHe climbs the Watts Towers, he is wailing and crying as police are shining bright searchlights on him. Rather than the biplanes that attempt to kill King Kong, [[Los Angeles Police Department|Los Angeles Police]] use helicopters to shine bright lights on Pridehim as they eventually shoot him, leading to Pride'shis subsequent fall to his death.<ref name=":1" />

Looking to improve the lives of poorer blacks in the community of [[Watts, Los Angeles|Watts]], Dr. Pride is a successful black doctor who has achieved great wealth and standing within the medical community – he is a likable and idyllic character.<ref name=":0" /> However, some like Benshoff argue that ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' is different from other blaxploitation horror films in that it examines how the “good-black, bad-white dichotomy” is played in society, as Dr. Pride is considered to be a black man who has ‘sold’ himself out to white America to be a part of the black middle class.<ref name=":0" /> That theme is depicted early on within the first few scenes of the film. Despite flirting with Dr. Pride, Linda calls Pridehim a "cop out" who "dresses white, thinks white, and probably even drives a white car. [Linda] adds, 'the only time [Pride is] around black people is when [he is] down [at the Watts clinic] clearing [his] conscience."<ref name=":1" />

Erb believes that Pride is a “tormented black protagonist forced to negotiate racially separate worlds but destroyed in the effort.” The film shows Pridehim as a man who comes from nothing, as he was born in a brothel to an alcoholic mother. The audience is supposed to think that he is simply looking for a remedy for cirrhosis of the liver, yet he is actually trying to help and cure the “black urban underclass.” Other characters throughout the film, like Linda, see Pridehim as an ambitious man who wants to live like the “white professional class and forget his origins,” yet those characters do not see the internal, psychological struggle that Pridehis experiences throughout the film.<ref name=":1" /> Erb maintains that Pridehe is not attempting to cure a disease in others, but rather his own social disease that is chronic and psychological. The audience sees Pridehim continuously returning to different areas that are either representative of, or actually in, his past. Whether it is as Dr. Pride or Mr. Hyde, he visits these areas to reaffirm his own authentic blackness after crossing a societal boundary into the white professional class, where he is out of touch with the black people that he knew all of his life.<ref name=":1" />

Like many blaxploitation films from the era, critical reviews of ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' thought the film was subpar. Especially in the case of the blaxploitation horror subgenre, films were considered successful if they did well in the box office, yet it was clear that production companies were not trying to win any awards. In the case of ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'', Bernie Casey was one of the primary selling points of the movie. The ''[[Atlanta Daily World]]'' raved about Casey in a 1976 article. CaseyHe was described as a “modern [[Polymath|Renaissance Man]]” who excelled as a scholar, an artist, and an athlete. At the time of the premiere of ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, GA]] at the RIALTO, Caseyhe was highly regarded, as he had received critical acclaim for his role in ''[[Guns of the Magnificent Seven]]'', ''[[Cleopatra Jones]]'' and ''[[Maurie (film)|Maurie]].''<ref>{{Cite news|title=Bernie Casey Stars In 'Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'|date=5 February 1976|newspaper=Atlanta Daily World|publication-place=Atlanta}}</ref>

Despite how some black audiences received the film, others abhorred it. Linda Gross of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' hated the film and described it as “rot”, with the exception of [[Tak Fujimoto]]’s cinematography and the presence of both Marie O’Henry and the Watts Towers. GrossShe despised the campy writing and thought that the “authenticity [was] also sorely lacking."<ref>{{Cite news|title='Watts Monster': Black on White|last=Gross|first=Linda|date=18 October 1979|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> GrossShe and others purely looked at the cinematic aspects of the film, while others, like Douglass and the ''Atlanta Daily World'', took the film for what it was – a poorly-funded blaxploitation horror film that was directed by a black director trying to send messages and themes through the film to his audience.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

* {{AmgAllMovie movietitle|14528|Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde}}

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