The Head of Janus (1920)

The film was an unauthorized adaptation of Robert Louis Stevensons novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but the source material went unrecognized by some of the German media due to changes in the characters names Released in 1920 this is one of Murnaus lost films While the film itself does not survive the scripts and related production notes do Because the film is lost its full length is unknown Dr Warren is the Dr Jekyll character who changes into Mr OConnor a parallel of Mr Hyde This transformation is brought about not by experimentation with chemicals as in Stevensons original but through the supernatural agency of a bust of Janus the Roman god of duality which Warren purchases in the opening sequence as a gift for his sweetheart Jane When she refuses the gift horrified Warren is forced to keep the statuette himself