The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Albert Lewin

Writers:

Oscar Wilde (novel)
Albert E. Lewin (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 March 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

His life was a muddy morass into which he dragged all who knew him! Such was Dorian Gray, the man who wanted eternal youth, and bartered his soul to get it!

Plot:

A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

Plot Keywords:

Portrait | Suicide | Attic | Painting | Portrait Painting

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

George Sanders	...	Lord Henry Wotton
Hurd Hatfield	...	Dorian Gray
Donna Reed	...	Gladys Hallward
Angela Lansbury	...	Sibyl Vane
Peter Lawford	...	David Stone
Lowell Gilmore	...	Basil Hallward
Richard Fraser	...	James Vane
Douglas Walton	...	Allen Campbell
Morton Lowry	...	Adrian Singleton
Miles Mander	...	Sir Robert Bentley
Lydia Bilbrook	...	Mrs. Vane
Mary Forbes	...	Lady Agatha
Robert Greig	...	Sir Thomas
Moyna MacGill	...	Duchess
Billy Bevan	...	Malvolio Jones (chairman)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Germany:6 (2006, DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The movie is black and white except for four times when Dorian Gray's picture is shown in color.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Sibyl Vane first catches sight of Dorian while she's performing "Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird," she momentarily stops singing, but her voice can still be heard on the soundtrack.

Quotes:

Dorian Gray: If only it was the picture who was to grow old, and I remain young. There's nothing in the world I wouldn't give for that. Yes, I would give even my soul for it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Daymaker (2007)

Soundtrack:

Good-Bye, Little Yellow Bird

A timeless piece -- Black and White classics with touches of color. It's about the mystery of living.

It is a mystery. Or is it mind over matter? The power of a mysterious painting depicted in this timeless tale of Oscar Wilde's imagination -- probing the depth of life's meaning.

It's costume drama, story began in London 1886. Definitely has an element of intrigue -- "a painting with a life of its own". It's eerie. It's dramatic. Its theme is scary. Such is a "deadly" wish of the main character, Dorian Gray: "If only the picture (a portrait of Dorian Gray) can change, and I can always be as I am now. I'd give my soul for that." Dorian Gray's obsession with youth became eternal youth.

Imagine that as time goes by, he will always stay the same rich attractive young man that he is -- never grow old, while the picture will take on the changes -- his soul and character. Conscience, no longer he has -- the picture took it on. The story describes how Dorian Gray spends his life henceforth and the consequences that entail.

A very young Angela Lansbury, after her debut in George Cuckor's 1944 "Gaslight", portrays the innocent young actress Sibyl Vane from the poor side of town. The bet between the characters of George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield brought to mind the cruel intentions of Neil LaBute's 1997 "In the Company of Men". George Sanders is the cynical callous Lord Henry Wotton. The events all happen in a seemingly civil manner, immersed in the society of the rich. Have and have-nots are juxtaposed.

The film is essentially in Black and White, with only the specific content of the picture of Dorian Gray in color when we see it through Dorian's eyes.

It's another B/W classics gem, well-cut and impeccably presented. It encompasses sentiments and all elements: mystery, intrigue, love lost, friendships, regrets, and fear. Dorian Gray with a tormented inside -- pining for the return of his soul. Is this the Devil's advocate? You see no hell depicted as in Vincent Ward's 1998 "What Dreams May Come", or Woody Allen's 1997 "Deconstructing Harry" or Taylor Hackford's 1998 "The Devil's Advocate". No glamorous, elaborate take on the Devil, but the atmosphere provided that suggestion. There's no special effects, yet you can feel the twistedness: a man asking for help within yet unable to help himself because he's a lost soul. The temperature of the movie seems like being in 10 degree Celsius -- cold in sentiment and tone. There was a glimmer of warmth -- it flickered and faded with the innocent Sibyl Vane character.

The subject matter is timeless even though the film was made in 1945. The story is fascinating in spite of the pace which may not be at breakneck speed as in today's action packed, sound effects filled movies.

You can say it's pseudo sci-fi -- a foreboding tale it is. By and by, Dorian Gray's unchanging mask-like face reminds me of "Mr. Sardonicus" (William Castle's 1961). His behaviors are no longer placid -- gradually turning into hideous evils. This film questions one's probity. The mystery of life is to live it not to attain immortality. How uninteresting it'd be to be changeless and ageless? (John Boorman's 1974 sci-fi "Zardoz" with Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling came to mind). Growth and change are intrinsic elements of life. Life and death go hand in hand cyclically. A truly worthwhile effort from writer/director Albert Lewin.