ON THIS DAY in 1865, Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, his first successful short story, was published in the New York Saturday Press. This event was depicted in the 1944 film, THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN, starring Fredric March.
Fredric March
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Trick & Treat for October 13th:
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932; starring Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins; directed by Rouben Mamoulian)
This classic “tampering in God’s domain” movie was one of several cinematic explorations of the Robert Louis Stevenson story. This, the first sound version, stars Fredric March in the title roles. March plays Jekyll, the wealthy, compassionate doctor with a dark side. The brainy but overly curious doc decides to expand his practice into areas where he has no expertise, areas that were better left unexplored. As a result of a chemical concoction he self-prescribes, his winning personality spins-off into a second entity that is brutal and lecherous, and without any bedside manners: the depraved Mr. Hyde. Where Jekyll is kind and thoughtful, Hyde is aggressive and relentless, pursuing his prey with joyful abandon. That prey is primarily a young and beautiful woman, Miss Champagne Ivy Pearson (the coquettish Miriam Hopkins). Jekyll’s fascinating transformation is accompanied by the sound of a heartbeat–that of the director himself, Rouben Mamoulian. And so the personality battle rages on, Jekyll to Hyde, Hyde to Jekyll, and back again. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t. 
Who wants to wait until the 31st to wallow in Halloween indulgences and scary movies?! Home Projectionist doesn’t! And so we’ll have pairings of 31 Frights and 31 Bites every one of October’s 31 nights: a scary, snack size movie “trick”, and a delicious “treat” to go along with it.
