THE UGLY DUCKLING, a 1959 Hammer Films crime comedy, is a parody of DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE. In fact, the opening credits state the idea for the film was stolen straight from Robert Louis Stevenson. The movie, like its namesake, was underappreciated for a very long while but seems to have come into its own. As of now a pristine print is available on YouTube and one can only hope it stays there until whoever owns the rights decides to issue UGLY on home video complete with subtitles, commentary, and additional extras. It's that good. Great, not, but amusing in its British way, really quite charming, and an excellent time capsule of the era.
The movie reimagines DR. JEKYLL & MR HYDE as a comic farce, and incorporates elements of the heist picture genre so popular at that time. Henry Jeckle (note the change in spelling) is a klutzy pharmacist's assistant who accidentally stumbles upon the transformation formula of his infamous ancestor (the reason for the spelling change) mixes it up, and after mistakenly drinking it, becomes Teddy Hyde, a smooth, suave, confident man about town who is in control of every situation. There's no way Jerry Lewis didn't see UGLY before making his 1963 THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (remade by Eddie Murphy in 1996).
Henry, his brother Victor, and their sister Henrietta run a small chemist's shop (pharmacy) in a neighborhood district in London. Victor and Henrietta enjoy participating in community dance gatherings which are also attended by local youths who are keen on swing dance, much to the consternation of their seniors, who come to watch formal-dress performances of old fashioned ballroom dancing. Joe Loss and his orchestra, one of the top British big band outfits of the day, perform a lively style of swing, and accompany a well-choreographed, crisply edited dance sequence at the beginning of the film, which is reprised at the end.
After clumsy Henry gets pressed into service for a ballroom dance performance that fails miserably, he discovers the formula which turns him into Teddy Hyde, everything Henry Jeckle is not. Cavalier Teddy is taken in by a gang of criminals (the owners of the club where the Jeckles go dancing) and helps them steal a set of valuable jewels through a series of bold and daring maneuvers. When Teddy becomes Henry again, he tries to return the jewels with the help of his girlfriend Snouty, and his brother Victor. Bernard Bresslaw, who plays the dual role of Henry and Teddy, is 6'7" tall and it's hard to see him and not think of Ted Cassidy's Lurch from THE ADDAMS FAMILY or Fred Gynne's Herman Munster although Bresslaw predates both by several years.
Jon Pertwee (of DOCTOR WHO fame) plays Henry's brother Victor while pint sized Jean Muir (no relation to the fashion designer) is Henry's plucky girlfriend Snouty. The comic contrast between Muir and Bresslaw is considerable. Character actor Reginald Beckwith is ideal as Henrietta's put upon suitor while Maudie Edwards as the spinster sister is the picture of punctured dignity. THE UGLY DUCKLING was intended as a comic opposite to Hammer's upcoming TWO FACES OF DR JEKYLL (1960) and was produced to show that, now that Hammer had become successful, they could still make something other than horror movies...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
FYI: There's an in-joke in UGLY which would have been recognized instantly by Hammer horror fans. When Henry turns into Teddy, it's to the soundtrack of James Bernard's theme for Christopher Lee's DRACULA. DRACULA had been made the previous year (1958).
