The year is 1889 in London, England. Dr. Henry Jekyll has just passed on and left his entire estate to Mrs. Sarah Crawford, his former sister-in-law. Jekyll's manservant, Jeffrey, comes calling on Sarah to advise her of her inheritance. Sarah quickly refuses to have anything to do with the inheritance, explaining to Jeffrey what he already knows. We go back several years before, when, in the cobblestone streets of London, we see a grotesquely disfigured man running across the street toward a horse and carriage. As he reaches the horse, it rears up, practically trampling a little girl named Vicki. Although the disfigured man continues running, a concerned citizen rushes Vicki and her parents to the office of Dr. Henry Jekyll, which is a few houses down. Dr. Jekyll appears to be preoccupied and not prepared to see Vicki. He does, however, and operates on her successfully. On that same evening, Sarah Crawford's father is giving a large party in honor of his daughter's visit. The "creme de la creme" of London society are all there. Sarah seems to be preoccupied as if she were expecting someone who has not yet arrived. We soon realize that the person Sarah is expecting is Dr. Henry Jekyll, her brother-in-law. Sarah's father has told her that Henry is not welcome in his home. He blames Henry for the death of his eldest daughter, Louise, who was married to Henry. Louise had been very ill, and under her husband's care. Sarah's father, also a doctor, felt that something else could have been done to save Louise, and he has never forgiven Dr. Jekyll. Sarah, however, has always adored Henry and secretly wished that she had been the object of his affections instead of her sister, Louise. Although now married, she has come for a visit without her husband. Dr. Jekyll stops by the party as it is ending, speaking to Sarah outside in the courtyard of her father's estate. When her father sees her with Henry, he insists that she come into the house alone. Before Henry leaves, however, they agree to meet for lunch the following day. Once in his home, Henry heads upstairs to his laboratory where we see beakers of various concoctions which he mixes. He then reaches for a camera, and after drinking his concoction, Henry starts to transform into the infamous Mr. Hyde. As this transformation takes place, he snaps a photograph of himself before it has been completed. Later that evening in Limehouse, London, a grotesquely disfigured man whom we now know is Mr. Hyde wonders into the sleazy parlor of a bordello. There, Mr. Hyde demands to see one of his favorite girls who not only hates him, but also is terrified of him. As he beats her senseless, he realizes that he has been spotted. Mr. Hyde throws some kerosene at the mirror, sprinkles it around, then throws a lighted candle which explodes. Mr. Hyde escapes. It is then that we learn that the police have been after Hyde for questioning in several murders. Mrs. Hackett, the landlady/madame for the bordello does not pursue this with the police, as a mysterious man always pays for Mr. Hyde's room and board in advance. The next afternoon, Sarah and Henry meet for lunch at the Cafe Royale, a club patronized by the well-to-do. During lunch Sarah professes her love for Henry and admits the only reason she married her husband was because she couldn't have Henry. Henry reaches over and kisses her lightly on the mouth, just as one of the biggest gossips in town turns around and sees them. As quickly as this nosy old woman can, she runs to Sarah's father to tell him. Upon her return home, Sarah's father disowns her and tells her to go back to her husband. However, Sarah refuses to go back to her husband and arranges to stay with her cousin until she can get settled elsewhere. Later, Edward Snape, a reporter for the London Record, pays a visit to Dr. Jekyll, showing him an article that Sarah's father had written years before regarding studies made similar to Dr. Jekyll's. As he reads the article, Dr. Jekyll feels himself begin to transform, and runs upstairs to his lab. It seems that recently, without the concoction or any warning, certain situations can make Dr. Jekyll transform. After Sarah has settled at her cousin's home, she runs to tell Henry of her plight. He insists that she stay with him, and not her cousin. Later, as Mr. Hyde, he sneaks into Sarah's room, beats and then rapes her. When the police arrive, they pay no attention to Sarah's bruises, brushing it off as a lover's quarrel. Shortly after the police have departed, Henry confesses to Sarah that Mr. Hyde was responsible for her attack. He also explains how this Mr. Hyde has come to be. Because she loves him, Sarah stays with him and they have a wonderful life together, going out in public and traveling all over the world. Most of the time, Henry has no reoccurrence of transforming. However, one evening while having dinner in his parents' home, he runs down to the wine cellar where he screams in pain as he transforms and murders his father. While the police are searching for Mr. Hyde, Sarah's father is summoned to analyze some powder that was found in Mr. Hyde's room. He does several tests, but is unable to analyze it. As he can no longer control Mr. Hyde, Henry breaks into his old laboratory which he had boarded up long ago after attacking Sarah. He tries to reconcoct the serum to reverse the transformation, but is unable to do it. Out of desperation, Henry pays Sarah's father a visit, begging for some of the powder necessary to reverse his transformations. As he does so, he transforms back to Mr. Hyde. Because there is no possibility of reversing the process, Dr. Jekyll, as Mr. Hyde, puts a gun to his head and shoots.