The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Picture of Dorian Gray is a 1945 American horror-drama film based on Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel of the same name. Released in June 1945 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film is directed by Albert Lewin and stars George Sanders as Lord Henry Wotton and Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray. Shot primarily in black-and-white, the film features four colour inserts in three-strip Technicolor of Dorian's portrait; these are a special effect, the first two inserts picturing a youthful Dorian and the second two a degenerate one.
Plot
London, 1886. Dorian Gray is a handsome and wealthy young man. While generally intelligent, he is naïve and easily manipulated. These faults lead to his spiral into sin and ultimate misery.
Lord Henry " Harry" Wotton is seen reading Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire. Lord Wotton also acts as the narrator for the film.
Lord Wotton meets his friend Basil Hallward, who is finishing a painting of Dorian Gray. Lord Wotton picks up and quickly discards The Wisdom of Buddha that Hallward was reading.
While posing for a painting by his friend Basil Hallward, Gray meets Hallward's friend Lord Henry Wotton. Wotton persuades Gray the only worthwhile life is dedicated to pleasure, because "what the gods give they quickly take away." After Wotton convinces Gray that youth and beauty will bring him everything he desires, Dorian wishes his portrait could age instead of him. He makes the wish in the presence of an Egyptian cat statue with supposed mystical powers.
Dorian visits a tavern, where he falls in love with a beautiful singer named Sibyl Vane. They begin a romance, despite disapproval from Sibyl's brother James, and they are soon engaged. Though initially contented, Dorian is again persuaded by Lord Henry to pursue a more hedonistic lifestyle. Dorian sends Sibyl a hurtful letter, ending their relationship and "compensating" her with a large payment in cash.
The next morning, Dorian finds his own face unchanged, but the portrait has changed and "the lines of cruelty about the mouth were unmistakable." He starts to realize his wish to the cat may be real. Lord Henry arrives with news that a heartbroken Sibyl killed herself the previous night, after receiving Dorian's letter. Dorian is at first shocked and guilty, but soon adopts Lord Henry's indifferent manner. He surprises Hallward by going to the opera that evening. Dorian has the portrait locked away in his old school room and disguises its location by firing servants who moved the painting. He becomes ever more dedicated to a sinful and heartless life. thumb thumb Years later, Dorian is 40 but looks 22, unchanged from when Hallward painted the portrait. London society is awestruck at his unchanging appearance. Over 18 years of debauchery, the portrait has remained locked away, with Dorian holding the only key. Dorian has become paranoid that no others see the portrait, and he repeatedly fires servants who are too inquisitive. Over the years, the portrait of the young, handsome, Dorian has warped into a hideous, demon-like creature reflecting Dorian's sins. Artist Hallward eventually sees his painting; shocked at its disfigurement, scarred "as if some moral leprosy was eating him away", Hallward encourages Dorian to reform his life. However, Dorian panics, murders his friend, and seals his body in the school room next to the portrait.
Dorian blackmails an old doctor friend, Allen Campbell, to dispose of Hallward's body. He then starts a romance with Hallward's niece, Gladys, who was a child when the portrait was painted. Though Gladys had always loved Dorian, and is overjoyed when he proposes marriage, those close to Dorian find him suspicious and changed. Campbell, distraught at his role in destroying Hallward's corpse, commits suicide.
Dorian begins to realise the harm he inflicts on himself and others. He is accosted by James Vane, Sibyl's brother, who has sworn revenge for his sister's death. Dorian, abusing his ever youthful appearance, deceives James by claiming his appearance is too youthful versus the man from 18 years before, but James soon learns the truth, following Dorian to his country estate to achieve his revenge. The unfortunate James, hiding in bushes, is shot by accident during a hunting party. Dorian despairs at his impact on others, knowing his role in yet another death, and realises he can spare Gladys from misfortune by leaving her.
After sending Gladys a letter breaking their engagement, Dorian confronts his portrait and sees a subtle improvement. Attributing the change to his determination not to harm Gladys, he resolves to change his life. He also resolves to destroy the portrait. He stabs the portrait in the heart, seeking to end the spell, but cries out as if he, too, has also been stabbed. His friends, realizing what has happened, burst into the schoolroom to discover Dorian dead next to the portrait, his body "withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage", now reflecting his sins in physical form. The portrait, by contrast, once more shows Dorian Gray as a young, innocent man.
Quotes
"When we're good, we're not always happy." Lord Henry Wotton
"I sent my soul through the invisible, Some letter of that after-life to spell: And by and by my soul returned to me, And answered, 'I myself am Heaven and Hell'." The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
Cast
- George Sanders as Lord Henry Wotton
- Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray
- Donna Reed as Gladys Hallward
- Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane
- Peter Lawford as David Stone
- Lowell Gilmore as Basil Hallward
- Richard Fraser as James Vane
- Douglas Walton as Allen Campbell
- Morton Lowry as Adrian Singleton
- Miles Mander as Sir Robert Bentley
- Lydia Bilbrook as Mrs. Vane
- Mary Forbes as Lady Agatha
- Robert Greig as Sir Thomas
- Moyna Macgill as Duchess
- Anita Sharp-Bolster as Lady Harborough
- Billy Bevan as Malvolio Jones
- Lilian Bond as Kate
Uncredited Cast
- Cedric Hardwicke as Narrator
- Mitchell Lewis as Waiter
- Reginald Owen as Lord George Farmour
