Richard Mansfield,Jekyll and Hyde and the History of Special Effects

Abstract

Recently, film historians (Gunning, Heath and Mayer) have warned against a teleological reading of cinema that makes it the triumphal outcome of an evolutionary process that leads seamlessly from theatre and photography to motion pictures. This warning is especially appropriate in evaluating the ‘trickrsquo; or double exposure photograph of Richard Mansfield in his signature role as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from his highly successful adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). While it is tempting to view this photograph as part of the history of early film special effects, such a reading occludes the importance of the body in Mansfield's acting. Mansfield in his performances had closer affiliations with contortionists such as Harry Houdini than with cinema technology in that his acting depended on his control of his body and face to effect the live transformation from Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde. The only technological aid that Mansfield used in this performance was special lighting that illuminated his face differently when he was performing the role of Hyde; otherwise, the transformation was entirely due to his skill as an actor. It is important, therefore, in reading images such as the double exposure image of Richard Mansfield, or equally the conventions of ‘earlyrsquo; cinema, not to fall prey to technological determinism and see them as part of the inevitable development of special effects technology that led to the ultimate triumph of digital computer imaging and morphing.