Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride
About Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride
Dr. Stanislaus Pyckle (Stan Laurel) drinks a drug he calls Dr. Pyckle's 58th Variety and turns into Mr. Pryde. Pryde steals a boy's ice cream, cheats at marbles, and pops a paper bag behind a woman. The town chases him. He changes back, and Pyckle says he has not seen the fiend. The drug spills into the dog's food and the dog turns mean. Pryde comes out again. Pyckle's assistant (Julie Leonard) tries to knock him out and fails. The townspeople return. The short stops without a last explanation.
Cast & crew
More about Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride
Scott Pembroke and Joe Rock directed. Rock produced. Tay Garnett wrote it. It opened on 30 July 1925 and runs 21 minutes. It spoofs the 1912 and 1920 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde films, including John Barrymore's makeup and the sudden changes of face. Pete the Dog plays the pup. Syd Crossley and Dot Farley have bits. The title is also spelled Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde.
Themes
Making
Rock's company shot the parody as a two-reeler, with Laurel playing both the doctor and the fiend and with a dog getting the same potion.
Preservation
A print survives. The Internet Archive holds Dr_Pyckle_and_Mr_Pride.avi.
Notes
- The crimes are an ice cream, a marble game, and a paper bag.
- The drug's label is Dr. Pyckle's 58th Variety, a jab at Heinz.
- Laurel made it two years before Putting Pants on Philip, his first official film with Hardy.
- The Internet Archive identifier is Dr_Pyckle_and_Mr_Pride.avi.
- A copy is also on Wikimedia Commons under the Pryde spelling.
Scenes
- Pyckle swallows the 58th Variety and comes out as Pryde.
- Pryde steals a boy's ice cream and cheats at marbles.
- The spilled drug hits the dog's dinner, and the dog turns fiendish.
- The assistant swings at Pryde and misses, and the picture ends in the chase.
Influenced by
- Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Also available
- Internet Archive (Dr_Pyckle_and_Mr_Pride.avi)
