This is the film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in which Hyde is the handsome, clean-shaven one. Though top-billed
Christopher Lee, portraying a caddish playboy, was the beneficiary of all the ad publicity, it is Paul Massie who plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The "horror" in the film is mostly sociological, with Jekyll learning first hand of the corruption lurking beneath the respectable facade of the Victorian Era. His metamorphosis into Hyde is meant as an allegory to the evils of drug addiction, another "don't ask--don't tell" element of 19th century London. In still another departure from the Stevenson original, Jekyll becomes Hyde not because he can't control his alter ego, but because he wants to exact revenge on
Christopher Lee, who has been siphoning off Jekyll's savings to finance his own gambling and womanizing. In contrast to Stevenson's story, Jekyll/Hyde does not die--though the strain of being Hyde has permanently scarred Jekyll's psyche. Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll was originally released in Britain as House of Fright. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide