FB Pocket Orchestra: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

True Gothic horror with this 1920s’ silent film version performed with live music

The brilliant FB Pocket Orchestra perform a new score to the first film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’.  The 1920 film directed by John S. Robertson is one of the earliest and most influential screen interpretations of the story. Emerging during the formative years of American feature filmmaking, it helped establish the psychological horror film as a serious cinematic form.

John Barrymore’s performance is central to the film’s reputation. His physical transformation from Jekyll to Hyde, achieved without modern visual effects, became a touchstone for later adaptations. It remains a striking example of early screen acting technique.

The film traces Dr. Henry Jekyll’s attempt to divide the moral and immoral elements of the human psyche, only to find that his alter ego, Edward Hyde, begins to dominate. Its treatment of duality, repression and social respectability reflects the tensions of its period.

Live music was central to the silent film experience. In the early decades of cinema, accompanists improvised or compiled scores in response to the action on screen; there was no single fixed soundtrack. This project draws on that practice, bringing home the power of early cinema to modern audiences.