Miriam Hopkins' Amazing Expressions of Barely Contained Terror First, a point of comparison. The very flirty and sexy (and very pre-code) Hopkins at the start of the film.
Much more after the jump...
In its pre-code cut, the 1931 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE was the best-acted, best- written, and most mature horror film of the 30s. Especially for the performance of Miriam Hopkins as the horribly abused Ivy. Here are a series of her expressions, which are where most of her acting goes in this as she's mostly terrified to talk back to him. Till recently, censors left only 5 minutes of her in the film, which is a goddamn shame; it's better than Bergman later in the same role, in my view. Which I nevertheless also like. partly because of its resonance with her daughter playing Dorothy Valens in BLUE VELVET. Something I probably should have had a look at for the very similar scene with Schilgoch in the most recent LULU. Definitely something to study for later chapters though; very related.
Especially this horrible, terrified smile she wears like the last scrap of protection from him she has.
"Eternity in the company of Beelzebub, and all of his hellish instruments of death, will be a picnic compared to five minutes with me & this pencil." --E. Blackadder, 1789 Questionable
words & pictures from John Linton Roberson
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