Dr. Black / Mr. Hyde from 1976 is a better-than-I-expected blaxploitation movie. The reason is Bernie Casey who gives a sensitive portrayal of Dr. Henry Pride, a madman, a man driven by the pain of the death of his mother and his compulsion to save the world. He's a good man (or appears to be) who goes over the line, who forgets the dignity of other human beings and imagines the necessary momentary evil act is worth it for the greater good. It's a deluded attitude, but not one the viewer cannot immediately dismiss. For a movie directed to a black audience this surely has more resonance.
Though the co-star of the movie is Rosalind Cash who plays another doctor who cares for Dr. Pride, the real power in the movie comes in the relationship between Casey and Marie O'Henry who plays the classic hooker with a heart of gold. She becomes the object of obsession of the Doctor who wants her to help him test a new drug to cure liver damage, but she quite logically and reasonably says no. And when he insists things get ugly.
The slow descent of Doctor Pride steadily presented, his self-destruction is on the screen for us to watch until he realizes he is lost and gives into the drug which turns him "white" and gives him great power, at least power to do harm. In a potent but somewhat uncomfortable finale at the Watts Towers, our hero-villain climbs the towers in a King Kong fashion as the authorities seek a final solution to the rampage of Dr. Black / Mr. Hyde.
I've seen a lot of deep analysis of the messages this film (also called The Watts Monster) delivers to diverse audiences, and I don't reject them, but best of all it's a compelling story pretty well told.
Note: This post originally appeared at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo.
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