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Mary Reilly (film)
Encyclopedia
Mary Reilly is a 1996
film directed by Stephen Frears
. The movie was written by Christopher Hampton
based on the novel Mary Reilly
by Valerie Martin
. This was the re-teaming of director Frears, screenwriter Hampton, and actors John Malkovich
and Glenn Close
, all of whom were involved in the Oscar-winning Dangerous Liaisons
(1988).
Mary delivers Jekyll's breakfast. One day he asks of her scars. She later explains about her abusive father, and how he tortured her with rats when she was young. Jekyll asks a favor of her, to deliver a letter. It is to a Mrs. Farraday, who is the madam
of a whorehouse. The madam agrees to accommodate the doctor's assistant in one of her apartments.
Mary's curiosity about the assistant causes her to follow him secretly into the doctor's lab one night, where she witnesses him handing over a cheque for blood money
. When she sees him returning, she hides in the lab as the exit door appears to be locked. She is terrified as Hyde discovers her hiding place, but he just throws her a key. The next morning, she finds Jekyll in the yard with a sprained ankle so she helps him back to his room. He asks her more questions about her father.
Early the next morning, Jekyll wakes her and asks her to deliver another letter to Mrs. Farraday. When she arrives at the brothel, the madam is furious. She shows Mary the room that has been let to Hyde and it is covered in blood. Mary returns with a blood stained handkerchief of Jekyll's with a message that Farraday will do what is necessary to conceal the bloody event.
While cleaning the library, Mary finally meets the handsome and enigmatic Edward Hyde. Although initially repelled, Mary soon finds herself drawn towards his passionate nature. He teases her about her father. The next day, when delivering Jekyll's breakfast, she is cross with him for breaking her confidence. He apologizes for his assistant, and he asks her to accompany Hyde on an errand. They visit the slaughterhouse yard where there is blood and entrails everywhere. When they return with the organs that the doctor requires for his research, Hyde again torments Mary, asking if she is aware of how much Jekyll longs to touch her. He instructs her to fetch tea, but on the way she answers the door to Mrs. Farraday, who insists on seeing Jekyll, and so Mary takes her through to the lab.
Jekyll is there, but not at all pleased to see Farraday. She demands more money for her continued silence. Mary leaves them alone, but while she is out watering the garden, she notices the lights in the lab go out. Investigating, she discovers nothing but a small pool of blood on the theater table. Mary did not see Hyde, who is hidden, and after having killed Mrs Farraday, is joking with her head.
While cleaning in Jekyll's study, Hyde again corners her, but apologizes for his earlier rudeness. He then crushes a tea cup, cutting his hand quite badly. When asked later by Poole about the broken crockery, she confesses, taking all the blame. The next time she delivers the doctor's breakfast, he said he knows she lied, as he knows that it was not her fault. She receives a letter later, informing her that her mother has died. When she went to her mother's dwelling to visit the body, the landlord says he has sold her belongings in order to recoup outstanding rent. Mary states she wants to give her mother a proper burial and goes out into the fog to find a funeral parlor.
She is grabbed in an alley by Hyde who is being chased by mounted police. He hides behind her as they rush by. He thanks her for being in the right place at the right time, kisses her, then leaves. When she returns to the house, she is greeted by a policeman who shows her into the dining room where she is questioned by a detective in connection to the murder of Jekyll's school friend, Sir Danvers Carew, a Member of Parliament. He asks if she has seen Hyde in the last 24 hours, to which she lies and says no. When she meets Jekyll later, he said she should not have risked so much and lied for Hyde. Danvers may have been "corrupt and frivolous," the doctor says, but he never deserved to be murdered. He said he has given Hyde money to disappear.
Mary buries her mother, but as she leaves the cemetery she is confronted by her father who pleads with her to meet with him occasionally, claiming that he is terminally ill. Crying, she refuses and leaves him behind.
When delivering the usual breakfast, she is surprised to discover Hyde in the doctor's bed. She tries to get away to raise the alarm, but he stops her. Hyde then reveals to her his true nature. He explains that the doctor injects himself with a serum, a cure for his depression, and that Hyde is the resulting cure. He in turn injects the 'antidote' to resume being Jekyll. He said that he now has the ability to appear without the aid of Jekyll's serum. Hyde, then, takes her into Jekyll's room and tries to persuade her to have sex with him. Shocked, Mary wishes to leave.
He releases her, and she joins her colleagues in the kitchen. They are interrupted by Jekyll who orders Poole to take a sample of a potion to the chemists and ask them to analyze it. He is to wait until they are successful as this is a matter of life and death. Mary realises that Jekyll is talking about the antidote. She helps him back to the lab and asks if what Hyde told her is true. He is surprised she had not guessed. Unfortunately, Poole returns unsuccessful.
Mary packs her things to leave, but on her way out, she decides to visit the lab. Hyde is there and grabs her, smashing bottles all around. He holds a knife to her throat but something prevents him from killing her. Hyde says that he always knew that Mary "would be the death of us." He injects himself with the antidote, and Mary is forced to witness the horrific transformation between one man to the other. Jekyll reveals that Hyde has mixed a poison with the antidote. Mary asks if this is some form of revenge against Jekyll, but he insists that is a release. He then dies in Mary's arms.
and Peter Guber
acquired the film rights to Mary Reilly
in 1989, and optioned them for Warner Bros.
with Roman Polanski
as director. When Guber became CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment
later that year, he moved Mary Reilly to Sony's sister company, TriStar Pictures
, where Burton was approached to direct with Denise Di Novi
to produce in 1991. Christopher Hampton
was hired to write the screenplay, and Tim Burton
signed on as director in January 1993, after he approved over Hampton's rewrite. He intended to start filming in January 1994, after he completed Ed Wood
, but Burton dropped out in May 1993 over his anger against Guber for putting Ed Wood in turnaround. Stephen Frears
was TriStar's first choice to replace Burton, and Di Novi was fired and replaced with Ned Tanen
. Daniel Day-Lewis
was TriStar's first choice for the role of Dr. Jekyll.
Roberts was nominated for Worst Actress by the Razzies as was director Stephen Frears.
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
film directed by Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
. The movie was written by Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
based on the novel Mary Reilly
Mary Reilly (novel)
Mary Reilly is a 1990 parallel novel by American writer Valerie Martin. It is a re-working of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1990 and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1991...
by Valerie Martin
Valerie Martin
Valerie Martin is an American novelist and short story writer. She has also taught at Mount Holyoke College, Loyola University New Orleans, The University of New Orleans, The University of Alabama, and Sarah Lawrence College, among other institutions. She is a graduate of the MFA Program for...
. This was the re-teaming of director Frears, screenwriter Hampton, and actors John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
and Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, all of whom were involved in the Oscar-winning Dangerous Liaisons
Dangerous Liaisons
Dangerous Liaisons is a 1988 drama film based upon Christopher Hampton's play, Les liaisons dangereuses, which in turn was a theatrical adaptation of the 18th-century French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos....
(1988).
Plot outline
Mary Reilly is a lonely servant in the home of Dr. Henry Jekyll, devoted to her position and her master. Slowly, a gradual friendship between Mary and the doctor begins as well as a growing attraction. However, the household is thrown into turmoil when the master announces he will be getting an assistant. The staff speculate on his employment, as he is never fully seen and remains a mystery.Mary delivers Jekyll's breakfast. One day he asks of her scars. She later explains about her abusive father, and how he tortured her with rats when she was young. Jekyll asks a favor of her, to deliver a letter. It is to a Mrs. Farraday, who is the madam
Madam (disambiguation)
Madam may refer to:* Madam, a respectful title for a woman * Madam , a Japanese fashion style* Madam-6, a psychoactive drug* Madam , a term for a woman who manages a brothel...
of a whorehouse. The madam agrees to accommodate the doctor's assistant in one of her apartments.
Mary's curiosity about the assistant causes her to follow him secretly into the doctor's lab one night, where she witnesses him handing over a cheque for blood money
Blood money (term)
Blood money is money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim.-Particular examples and uses:...
. When she sees him returning, she hides in the lab as the exit door appears to be locked. She is terrified as Hyde discovers her hiding place, but he just throws her a key. The next morning, she finds Jekyll in the yard with a sprained ankle so she helps him back to his room. He asks her more questions about her father.
Early the next morning, Jekyll wakes her and asks her to deliver another letter to Mrs. Farraday. When she arrives at the brothel, the madam is furious. She shows Mary the room that has been let to Hyde and it is covered in blood. Mary returns with a blood stained handkerchief of Jekyll's with a message that Farraday will do what is necessary to conceal the bloody event.
While cleaning the library, Mary finally meets the handsome and enigmatic Edward Hyde. Although initially repelled, Mary soon finds herself drawn towards his passionate nature. He teases her about her father. The next day, when delivering Jekyll's breakfast, she is cross with him for breaking her confidence. He apologizes for his assistant, and he asks her to accompany Hyde on an errand. They visit the slaughterhouse yard where there is blood and entrails everywhere. When they return with the organs that the doctor requires for his research, Hyde again torments Mary, asking if she is aware of how much Jekyll longs to touch her. He instructs her to fetch tea, but on the way she answers the door to Mrs. Farraday, who insists on seeing Jekyll, and so Mary takes her through to the lab.
Jekyll is there, but not at all pleased to see Farraday. She demands more money for her continued silence. Mary leaves them alone, but while she is out watering the garden, she notices the lights in the lab go out. Investigating, she discovers nothing but a small pool of blood on the theater table. Mary did not see Hyde, who is hidden, and after having killed Mrs Farraday, is joking with her head.
While cleaning in Jekyll's study, Hyde again corners her, but apologizes for his earlier rudeness. He then crushes a tea cup, cutting his hand quite badly. When asked later by Poole about the broken crockery, she confesses, taking all the blame. The next time she delivers the doctor's breakfast, he said he knows she lied, as he knows that it was not her fault. She receives a letter later, informing her that her mother has died. When she went to her mother's dwelling to visit the body, the landlord says he has sold her belongings in order to recoup outstanding rent. Mary states she wants to give her mother a proper burial and goes out into the fog to find a funeral parlor.
She is grabbed in an alley by Hyde who is being chased by mounted police. He hides behind her as they rush by. He thanks her for being in the right place at the right time, kisses her, then leaves. When she returns to the house, she is greeted by a policeman who shows her into the dining room where she is questioned by a detective in connection to the murder of Jekyll's school friend, Sir Danvers Carew, a Member of Parliament. He asks if she has seen Hyde in the last 24 hours, to which she lies and says no. When she meets Jekyll later, he said she should not have risked so much and lied for Hyde. Danvers may have been "corrupt and frivolous," the doctor says, but he never deserved to be murdered. He said he has given Hyde money to disappear.
Mary buries her mother, but as she leaves the cemetery she is confronted by her father who pleads with her to meet with him occasionally, claiming that he is terminally ill. Crying, she refuses and leaves him behind.
When delivering the usual breakfast, she is surprised to discover Hyde in the doctor's bed. She tries to get away to raise the alarm, but he stops her. Hyde then reveals to her his true nature. He explains that the doctor injects himself with a serum, a cure for his depression, and that Hyde is the resulting cure. He in turn injects the 'antidote' to resume being Jekyll. He said that he now has the ability to appear without the aid of Jekyll's serum. Hyde, then, takes her into Jekyll's room and tries to persuade her to have sex with him. Shocked, Mary wishes to leave.
He releases her, and she joins her colleagues in the kitchen. They are interrupted by Jekyll who orders Poole to take a sample of a potion to the chemists and ask them to analyze it. He is to wait until they are successful as this is a matter of life and death. Mary realises that Jekyll is talking about the antidote. She helps him back to the lab and asks if what Hyde told her is true. He is surprised she had not guessed. Unfortunately, Poole returns unsuccessful.
Mary packs her things to leave, but on her way out, she decides to visit the lab. Hyde is there and grabs her, smashing bottles all around. He holds a knife to her throat but something prevents him from killing her. Hyde says that he always knew that Mary "would be the death of us." He injects himself with the antidote, and Mary is forced to witness the horrific transformation between one man to the other. Jekyll reveals that Hyde has mixed a poison with the antidote. Mary asks if this is some form of revenge against Jekyll, but he insists that is a release. He then dies in Mary's arms.
Main cast
- Julia RobertsJulia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
: Mary Reilly - John MalkovichJohn MalkovichJohn Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
: Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde - Michael SheenMichael SheenMichael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
: Bradshaw - George Cole: Mr. Poole
- Kathy StaffKathy StaffKathy Staff was an English actress, well known for her work on British television...
: Mrs. Kent - Bronagh GallagherBronagh Gallagher- External links :*...
: Annie - Glenn CloseGlenn CloseGlenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
: Mrs. Farraday - Michael GambonMichael GambonSir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
: Mr. Reilly - Ciarán HindsCiarán HindsCiarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include...
: Sir Danvers Carew
Production
Producers Jon PetersJon Peters
Jon Peters is an American movie producer.-Early life:Peters was born John H. Peters in Van Nuys, California, the son of Helen , a receptionist, and Jack Peters, a cook...
and Peter Guber
Peter Guber
Howard Peter Guber is an American film producer and executive and Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment...
acquired the film rights to Mary Reilly
Mary Reilly (novel)
Mary Reilly is a 1990 parallel novel by American writer Valerie Martin. It is a re-working of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1990 and the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1991...
in 1989, and optioned them for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
with Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
as director. When Guber became CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
later that year, he moved Mary Reilly to Sony's sister company, TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
, where Burton was approached to direct with Denise Di Novi
Denise Di Novi
Denise Di Novi is an American film producer.-Personal life:When she was three years old, Denise and her family moved to Los Angeles from New York, where her father Gene Di Novi - a musician - made music for the TV shows of Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith. Prior to that, Gene worked...
to produce in 1991. Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
was hired to write the screenplay, and Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
signed on as director in January 1993, after he approved over Hampton's rewrite. He intended to start filming in January 1994, after he completed Ed Wood
Ed Wood (film)
Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
, but Burton dropped out in May 1993 over his anger against Guber for putting Ed Wood in turnaround. Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
was TriStar's first choice to replace Burton, and Di Novi was fired and replaced with Ned Tanen
Ned Tanen
Ned Stone Tanen was an American movie studio executive behind films that included American Graffiti and Animal House....
. Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
was TriStar's first choice for the role of Dr. Jekyll.
Critical and public reaction
Reports of alleged production delays and animosity between the two leads helped fuel the poor word-of-mouth preceding the film's release. Upon release, the reviews were decidedly negative, with few critics finding anything to praise about the production. Many found fault with Roberts, calling her 'miscast' (though Malkovich, too, received his fair share of ill mention). The movie did not do well at the box office. It earned a paltry $5.6 million on a budget of $47 million.Roberts was nominated for Worst Actress by the Razzies as was director Stephen Frears.