Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has become one of the great myths of modern culture. But beneath the potions and transformations lies a darker question: Can a man separate his secret desires from his respectable self—and escape responsibility for what follows?
In this Listen with Gilbert Deep Dive, we hear how three generations of radio approached Stevenson’s divided man: a 1941 Jack Benny treatment whose second part aired on December 7, the prestige drama of Theatre Guild on the Air, and the atmospheric revival of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
Along the way, we ask why radio may be the perfect medium for Jekyll and Hyde. Film has to show us the monster. Radio lets the monster form in our imagination.
The frightening discovery is not that Hyde exists.
It is that Hyde belongs to Jekyll.
Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde - The Jack Benny Show
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde - Part one - 11/30/1941
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde - Part two - 12/7/1941
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - CBS Radio Mystery Theater
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde - Robert Lewis Stevenson - Theater Guild on the Air
