Customer Reviews

The Picture of Dorian Gray [VHS]

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This film belies itself in that it's presence seems very innocent and moral on the outside, afterall it's a vintage MGM movie set in the aristocratic culture of Victorian England. However, take these layers away and you have a very creepy and horrific movie. This reminded me of Hitchcock film due to the light atmosphere and surroundings with the deep undertones of the dark side of human nature.

Hurd Hatfield gives a fine and creepy performance as the indifferent and evil Dorian Gray. I found his face very mask-like and cold as I would imagine a person without a conscience to be. He harms and destroys people with the grace of the finest Victorian gentleman. He has sold his soul to the devil to remain eternally young and beautiful, as his painted portrait takes on what he has truly become.

I have seen the actual demonic portrait of Dorian Gray at the Art Institute of Chicago where it resides. It's even more horrific in person and it adds dimension to this movie, and truly shows the destortion of pure evil. This is exemplary in the fact that even though this movie is in black and white, when the painting is in the film frame, it is in technicolor. I think that even though Oscar Wilde has produced a wonderful literary piece, some credit needs to go to the artist, Ivan Albright, for producing such a stark visual reminder of how horrible the dark side of human nature can be.

This 1945 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic novella is more that likely the best adaptation one will ever see. This may seem to be a big statement, but Albert Lewin's direction along with Harry Stradling Sr.'s Oscar winning Cinematography for 1946, appears almost flawless when comparing the classic novel with the film.

George Sanders as Lord Henry Wotton should have won the Oscar that year for best supporting actor because his performance is faultless, brimming with style and wit. To my mind, he is Oscar Wilde, snobbish, intelligent and uses his tongue as a sword, cutting anyone down to size who cares to challenge him. Some of his lines from the screenplay are pure gems that Wilde is so famous for:

"I like persons better than principles and persons with no principles better than anything at all."

"Forgive me for the intelligence of my argument; I'd forgotten you were a Member of Parliament."

Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) is a slightly effeminent aristocrat who makes a Faustian pact to gain eternal youth. Gray's portrait, however, reveals Gray's soul, as he plunges himself into the dark and criminal world of 19th century London. Gray is selfish, uncaring, and arrogant and portrays the true 19th century hedonist; a Wildean character in the truest sense, as the then infamous novel, during the famous Wilde trials, was partly responsible for his four year imprisonment. This was the time when homosexuality was illegal, and Oscar Wilde became a scapegoat for the English's notorious hypocrisy.

Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane won her the Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. She is beautiful in this role, touching and almost pitiful as her innocence is corrupted by the cruel Dorian Gray.

What is curious about this film is that it is black and white; however, the actual portrait of Dorian is shown four times through the film in colour.

This was the only novel Oscar Wilde ever wrote, as he was predominantly a playwright and poet. The book also is a comment on the "Art for Art's Sake" sensibility and a philosophical commentary on the Aesthetic movement. The film also touches on these points, albeit on a superficial level.

This is a wonderful film and one hopes that in the near future it will be available on DVD.

Absolutely excellent.

This is a wonderful film, filled with atmosphere and wonderful actors. George Sanders is outstanding as Lord Henry Wotton. Never have I heard someone make evil sound so appealing. You can just feel the blackness going into Dorian's heart as he listens to him speak his honeyed words.

Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray was the perfect choice. He has the look of someone who has been sheltered from the world. He looked untouched as he committed the evil the sealed his fate. Sanders and Hatfield were perfect together.

Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane has a short put very important role, you can hear her heart break when Dorian leaves her.

It is a slow and somber ride down the path to evil but that makes it so much more real.

Wonderful sets, great lighting, perfect casting, this film calls out for a DVD version stuffed with extras.

It should be done now while we still have some of the actors and crew from the film still alive.

Great film for a lonely night when the shadows are long and dark.

The classic moral/horror tale is to finally be released on DVD by Warner Home Video. The story has a Jekyl and Hyde type quality with Dorian making a wish after his portrait is painted that he will remain eternally young while his portrait grows old. George Sanders plays Dorian's "friend", Lord Henry Wotton, who tempts Dorian to live a life of debauchery. Sanders was born to plays such roles. Dorian follows Wotton's advice with gusto, living a rather secret second life. All the while the portrait grows hideous in appearance, mirroring the state of Dorian's soul, while Dorian retains his youthful angelic appearance. It is a single DVD release with the following extra features:

Cast commentaries by Angela Lansbury and film historian/screenwriter Steve Haberman
1945 MGM short Stairway To Light
1945 MGM cartoon Quiet Please!
Theatrical trailer

I am particularly interested to hear Lansbury's comments on the film. She and Hurd Hatfield, the actor who portrayed Dorian, remained friends from the time they made this film until Hatfield's death in 1998. I am sure she will have many interesting things to say.

This version deserves to be on DVD! Where is it Warner Bros.? This movie is excellent!!! Like many of the other reviewers, I want to see this on DVD and while they're at it, go ahead and release "Kind Lady"(1951) and "Night must Fall"(1937) on DVD as well. Why do these films continue to be overlooked by the studios as obvious candidates for immediate DVD release??? Given the quality of the majority of DVD releases over the last few years, one might think that the major studios were at a loss as to where to find quality material to release. Well, these films - and others like them - have been long overdue for DVD!!! A word of advice to the studios; Stop twiddling your thumbs and release these films!!! -Thank you

Until two days ago I had almost persuaded myself that this was just a nightmare I had when I was about five.

Almost persuaded myself.

I can only remember about twenty seconds of the film, which is when he dies and the body and painting switch appearances. This terrified me. I was almost sure it was a nightmare I had, it has haunted me for fourteen years and I find myself too scared to see the film again. It is incredible how something can affect you for so long from such an early age. It has such a feeling of evil about it which modern films have so far been unable to recreate. Hopefully I will get over it soon and be able to watch it, it's just frightening to think how powerful a work of fiction can be. Oscar must be seriously warped! (Which is a good thing, I loved 'The Importance of Being Earnest')

This gains five stars for the sheer impact it has had on my life, inspiring much checking under beds and in closets when I was young, and shudders now.

I was sure it was MY nightmare. I may be a 'young'un' but this kind of evil atmosphere is more powerful than the films produced by those Hollywood hacks. (I don't say books, see Neil Gaiman's 'Snow, Glass, Apples' in his 'Smoke and Mirrors' collection for true horror.

Peter Evans

A fantastic film. Hurd Hatfield is brilliant in the title role. WHY IS THERE NO DVD!?! This film is more than worthy of being cleaned up for a special edition release. ARE YOU LISTENING WARNERS!!

An Aristocratic man, innocently young and handsome Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) becomes enchanted by an Egyptian goddess ("Bastet" the cat god) that supposedly has the power to grant longevity and youth. Dorian has an ideal and decides to have his portrait painted by a close friend. Soon after, under the influence of amoral Lord Henry Wotton (George Sanders), he jilts his fiancée (a young and very beautiful Angela Lansbury), leading to her suicide. This is the start of a life of increasing debauchery! Gray soon realizes that the outward signs of his sinister new persona are apparent only in the portrait. Eventually the picture, secreted in his childhood playroom, becomes almost hideous to behold. But Gray still has one pure love - Gladys (Donna Reed), the niece of the original painter. Will Gladys' love be strong enough to save Dorian from the curses and immorality that has plagued his life? Is there any purity left in Dorian's heart to give him any chance of redemption or hope of salvation? And how much has the portrait of Dorian Gray actually changed after all of these years of absorbing Dorian's secrets, sins, and lies? It is all exposed in the grand finale as the door to the playroom is finally opened and the portrait of the true Dorian Gray unmasks his youth and beauty!

Oscar Wilde's immortal classic "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is still long overdue for a much-needed DVD release. This viewing of the classic was made possible by a good friend who loaned me his VHS copy, of which I'm most grateful! The entire cast is flawless in this 1945 adaptation of Wilde's novella! George Sanders is phenomenal as Lord Harry Wotton and this is his second best performance, the first being his mastering the screen as acid tongued theatre critic Addison Dewitt in the Bette Davis vs. Anne Baxter classic "All About Eve" (1950). This is in the only film that I recall seeing Hurd Hatfield starring in. With his strong aristocratic good looks and effeminent acting skills, I can't imagine why he wasn't used in more films of the time. Angela Lansbury is so lovely and young here and brings an innocent beauty to the screen as Dorian's fiancée, Sybil Vane. I have long been a fan of this classic film and highly recommend it to all fans of classic cinema! For those who have yet to see "The Picture of Dorian Gray," and for those who have seen it and would like to add it to their movie libraries, here's hoping that a DVD release is in the very near future!

**UPDATE!!** "The Picture of Dorain Gray" (1945) is coming to DVD OCTOBER 7, 2008!! Hooray!!!!!!!

I just saw this movie and it has now become one of my all time favorites, Hurd Hatfield gives an extraordinary performance (as does the entire cast)Hurd is so stiff and wooden and cold it gives you chills. The decayed portrait shown in color is shocking and startling at first view and I love the way he throws the knife time and time again before he commits the murder that's fine suspense. This movie makes you think about life, vanity and what is important in the long run. This character lost his soul because he sold it for youth it makes you think about how you yourself, are living and are you selling out what you believe in for something or someone,they don't make them like this anymore that's for sure and where is the DVD of this, why is there no DVD????!!!!

The chief criticism of MGM's film version of Oscar Wilde's classic story "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" always appears to be the choice of a rather, (at first glance) wooden Hurd Hatfield playing the mysterious Dorian Gray. In actual fact his waxwork like presence in the story I feel heightens the sense of drama and mystery surrounding this strange tale of a young man who sells his soul in order to remain forever young while his recently painted portrait ages as a direct result of his ongoing moral decline.

Based on the famous novel by Oscar Wilde MGM pulled out all the stops in bringing this story to the screen. A Pandro Berman Production, the film was both scripted and directed by Albert Lewin who was responsible for another surreal classic in "Pandora And The Flying Dutchman". Casting in this production is impeccable. Hurd Hatfield who forever after would be associated in people's minds with this role is I believe perfect as Dorian Gray the young aristocrat in Victorian London who outwardly is the very image of innocence but who underneath is the personification of depravity and evil. His angelic appearance and expressionless manner is superb in conveying the corruption and depravity that the character is guilty of (off camera of course), and it was a stroke of genius to use him rather than another more obviously villianess looking type. Here "suggestion" is the overwhelming quality which makes this version of "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" such a masterpiece. George Sanders is perfectly cast as dissolute gentleman Lord Henry Wotton a friend of Dorian's who has made a lifetimes work out of totally avoiding any work or personal commitment of any kind and who is a fountain of cynicism and wry observations about people and their failings. It is a role tailor made for Sanders much akin to his characters in "All About Eve" and "Rebecca". Angela Lansbury in only her third Hollywood production shines in the role of Sibyl Vane a sad little singer at the Two Turtles Pub who falls in love with Dorian and becomes one of the first victims of his vicious disregard for the feelings of others. Lansbury received another Academy Award nomination for this role (the first being for the classic "Gaslight"). The main cast is rounded out by a lovely Donna Reed as Gladys Hallward Dorian's later fiance, Lowell Gilmore in a superb performance as the painter Basil Hallward, Gladys's uncle who is responsible for the portrait of Dorian and who pays the ultimate price for its creation, and Peter Lawford newly arrived in Hollywood as David Stone an admirer of Gladys.

The film was a major production for that year at MGM and no expense was spared in bringing it to the screen. Cedric Gibbons MGM's legendary set designer outdid himself in the recreation of Victorian London and his elaborate interiors add greatly to the overall look of the film. Costumer Irene also has to be singled out for her wonderful period costumes for both the men and women which are so accurately a refection of this era. The real standout feature in "The Picture Of Dorian Grey" however must go to the very famous Oscar winning photography of Harry Stradling who not only enhanced the superb black and white interiors but provided the film with the intriguing breaks into technicolour whenever a closeup view of Dorian Gray's portrait was revealed. This is startingly done without warning to maximum effect and is a vital part in revealing to the audience the growing depravity and decay that Dorian's character undergoes while he doesn't visibly change one bit. Even today these colour sequences pack a real punch and really add to the overall horror of this story.They are without a doubt the main thing that people today remember the film for and they truly deserved the Academy Award that year.

"The Picture Of Dorian Gray" certainly would not appeal to all viewers. Much of what is said or done is off camera throughout the film but the building sense of menace and doom really suceeds in keeping the viewers attention. I love this story and strongly believe that Hurd Hatfield really makes the film a memorable piece directly because he actually does little in the story. A definite horror piece it is and if you like a film where you have to think and where things are often implied and where the characters are richly drawn from great literature then "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" is highly recommended viewing.