“Two versions of Stevenson's classic horror tale were released in 1920. One was a minor effort produced by Louis B. Mayer and was quickly forgotten. Paramount's version, filmed at their Long Island studios, with John Barrymore as the hapless doctor who succeeded all too well in separating the good and evil qualities in man, was quite another matter. A fine Grand Guignol thriller in its day it holds up very well, even in comparison with later versions starring Conrad Veidt, Fredric March, and Spencer Tracy. The thirteenth of Barrymore's films, it was the first in which he was presented in a bizarre role calling for horrific makeup. He thoroughly enjoyed himself, throwing himself into his scenes with astounding zest.

“It is worthy of note that the ‘changeover' sequence is a marvel of bravura acting... with a minimum of makeup, and with a maximum of facial expression, Jekyll turns into Hyde before our very eyes.

“Stevenson might not have approved of this version of his story. Nita Naldi, in a role not even referred to in the original story, displayed incredible cleavage. In addition, the adaptors added, almost intact, the character of Lord Henry from Oscar Wilde's ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray' in the person of Sir George Carewe, Dr. Jekyll's evil mentor. While Stevenson might have complained, 1920 audiences loved it, and the dance hall girl persisted to recent times, with the lovely Ingrid Bergman in the same role in the Spencer Tracy version.”