The Doctor's Horrible Experiment

(Redirected from The Testament of Doctor Cordelier) 1959 French TV series or program

The Doctor's Horrible Experiment

Based on	Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Written by	Jean Renoir
Directed by	Jean Renoir
Starring	Jean-Louis Barrault Teddy Bilis Michel Vitold Jean Topart Micheline Gary
Music by	Joseph Kosma
Country of origin	France
Original language	French
Production
Cinematography	Georges Leclerc
Editor	Renée Lichtig
Running time	95 minutes
Production companies	R.T.F. S.O.F.I.RA.D
Original release
Release	August 31, 1959 (1959-08-31)

The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (French: Le Testament du docteur Cordelier) is a 1959 French black-and-white television film directed by Jean Renoir. It has been released in the United Kingdom as Experiment in Evil and on DVD as The Testament of Doctor Cordelier. The film is a retelling of the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson set in 1950s France. Jean-Louis Barrault plays Dr. Cordelier/Opale, the substitute for Dr. Jekyll/Hyde character; the film is also known for its visual style that is far above the normal television programs of the 1950s.

Plot

In Paris, the lawyer Joly is given the will of his friend and client Cordelier, a well-known psychiatrist, who leaves everything to a patient called Opale. However Joly learns that this Opale is a sadistic pervert and murderer who keeps evading the police. He even causes the death of another leading psychiatrist, Séverin, who challenged Cordelier's views. The climax comes after a smart party at Cordelier's capacious house, when he is heard howling with pain in his laboratory. Breaking in, Joly finds Opale, who admits he is really Cordelier and makes his confession. Guilt over his sexual exploitation of female staff and patients led him, by long research into mind-altering drugs, to create a separate persona through which he could enact his hidden desires without taking responsibility. Swallowing an overdose, he dies.

Cast

Jean-Louis Barrault as Dr. Cordelier/Opale
Teddy Bilis as Maître Joly
Jean Bertho as Premier passant
Jacques Ciron as Deuxième passant
Jean Topart as Désiré
Michel Vitold as Docteur Séverin
Jacques Danoville as Commissaire Lardaut (as Jacques Dannoville)
André Certes as Inspecteur Salbris

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2017)

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 6 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 7.7/10.

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, praising Barrault's performance, and direction.

References

"Experiment in Evil". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
Review by Shawn Levy at OregonLive.com
"The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier) (1959) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
Leonard Maltin (2015). Classic Movie Guide: From the Silent Era Through 1965. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 387. ISBN 978-0-14-751682-4.

External links

The Doctor's Horrible Experiment at IMDb

v t e Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Character Adaptations
Films	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, Paramount) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, Haydon) Der Januskopf (1920) Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951) Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957) The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (1959) The Ugly Duckling (1959) My Friend, Dr. Jekyll (1960) The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) Karutha Rathrikal (1967) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968) Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) I, Monster (1971) The Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio (1971) Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (1972) Engal Thanga Raja (1973) Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976) Dr. Jekyll Likes Them Hot (1979) Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980) Docteur Jekyll et les femmes (1981) Chehre Pe Chehra (1981) Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982) Edge of Sanity (1989) The Pagemaster (1994) Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995) Mary Reilly (1996) Jekyll & Hyde: Direct from Broadway (2001) Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2002) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) Van Helsing (2004) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (2008) The Nutty Professor (2008) The Mummy (2017) Doctor Jekyll (2023)
Theatre	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1888) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Or a Mis-Spent Life (1897) Jekyll & Hyde (1990)
Television	Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde (1995–1998) Jekyll (2007) Once Upon a Time (2011–2018) Do No Harm (2013) Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) Jekyll and Hyde (2015) Wednesday (2022–)
Animation	The Impatient Patient (1942) Motor Mania (1950) Dr. Jerkyl's Hide (1954) Hyde and Hare (1955) Hyde and Go Tweet (1960) Mad Monster Party? (1967) Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters (1972) The Pagemaster (1994) Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004) The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein (2008) Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Video games	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1988) Jekyll and Hyde (2001) Van Helsing (2004)
Music	"Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" (1983) "Bubba Hyde" (1995) Jekyll and Hyde (2003) Jekyll & Hyde en Español (2004) "Mz. Hyde" (2014)
Comics	Mister Hyde (introduced 1963) Batman: Two Faces (1998) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999–2019)
Novels	The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) Mary Reilly (1990) Jekyll and Heidi (1999)

v t e Jean Renoir
Silent films	The Whirlpool of Fate (1925) Nana (1926) Marquitta (1927) The Little Match Girl (1928) Le Bled (1929)
Sound films	On purge bébé (1931) La Chienne (1931) Night at the Crossroads (1932) Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932) Chotard and Company (1933) Madame Bovary (1934) Toni (1935) Life Belongs to Us (1936) The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936) The Lower Depths (1936) La Grande Illusion (1937) La Marseillaise (1938) La Bête Humaine (1938) The Rules of the Game (1939) Swamp Water (1941) This Land Is Mine (1943) The Southerner (1945) The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946) "Partie de campagne" (1946) The Woman on the Beach (1947) The River (1951) The Golden Coach (1952) French Cancan (1955) Elena and Her Men (1956) The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (1959) Picnic on the Grass (1959) The Elusive Corporal (1962) The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir (1970)
Related	Bibliography Louis Lumière / conversation avec Langlois et Renoir Catherine Hessling (wife) Alain Renoir (son) Pierre-Auguste Renoir (father) Aline Charigot Renoir (mother) Pierre Renoir (brother) Gabrielle Renard Marguerite Renoir

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