New To Blu-ray: Not So ‘Ugly Duckling’ Reviewed
by Rachel Bellwoar
Hammer Films are arguably best known for horror, but that’s not all they produced. They also made comedies. Four of these are collected in Indicator’s Hammer Volume Seven: Ships & Giggles box set. As a film that bridges genres, though, the standout of this set is Lance Comfort’s The Ugly Duckling (1959). A horror comedy that balances jokes with scares (no easy feat, as film historian Kevin Lyons goes over in his extra), it’s no accident that the family at the center of this movie has the last name Jeckle, also spelt Jekyll (the film never makes up its mind).
Starring Bernard Bresslaw as gentle giant Henry Jeckle (Bresslaw was 6′ 7″ in real life), his character is introduced filling in for a dance partner, but bungling the moves so badly that the Grease rejects in the audience start making fun of him. What immediately sticks out about Bresslaw’s performance is how sincere he plays it. Instead of going for laughs, the humor comes from empathizing with his predicament, and there’s an immediate kinship with his character.
Future Doctor Who Jon Pertwee and Maudie Edwards play Henry’s siblings. The film loses some of its lightness by having them come down harshly on their brother. It would be nice if at least one of them came to his defense (and sometimes Pertwee’s Victor fulfills that role), but their comments are more cruel than necessary. Luckily, Henry does have one friend in Jean Muir’s Snouty. If most of the youth in this movie come across as Grease rejects, she’s a future Anybodys in West Side Story. Their friendship provides the warmth the film needs, but unfortunately not enough to stop Henry from making a batch of his ancestor’s recipe for a potion that will make him the most confident version of himself.
Yes, as previously suggested, The Ugly Duckling is a spin on Robert Louis Stephenson‘s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Sticking to its horror comedy roots, though, this isn’t like the 1931 film, which goes to some much darker places in terms of suggesting Hyde, or Hide, is an evil side of Jekyll that he’s been suppressing. Hide in Ugly Duckling is a completely different person who Jeckle turns into but has no memory of being afterwards (making Jeckle a body to be possessed, not held responsible for his actions).
In addition to the interview with Lyons, Indicator’s Blu-ray includes an introduction to the film by Stephen Laws (where he considers whether this is the film Pertwee was referring to in one of his memoirs where he injured his back), there’s also an interview with cast members Jess Conrad (Bimbo) and Geremy Phillips (Tony the Tiger, though I don’t know if his character is ever named onscreen which makes him harder to identify) as well as Lionel Blair, who directed the musical numbers and is able to provide some background on Muir, who was a dancer.
Robert Shail provides a featurette on Comfort that makes a good argument for why Indicator should release a box set of his films next. It’s always great when the clips included in supplements are from films that aren’t readily available, because it creates anticipation.
Last but not least, a TV episode-length film called Up in the Air (1969) tells the story of a new boy (Gary Smith) who leads a rebellion at his school where Pertwee is the harsh head teacher. Some of the chase sequences go on for too long but I would’ve been glued to my seat watching this movie as a kid.
The Ugly Duckling will be available on region 2 Blu-ray starting May 18th as part of Indicator’s Hammer Volume 7: Ships & Giggles box set. I’m really glad more people are going to get a chance to see this film.
