The Picture of Dorian Gray - Albert Levin

in memory of the passing of Angela Lansbury... I decided to watch a non-Hitchcock film last night. I had options - Mary Poppins Returns, Sweeney Todd, Death on the Nile, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Three Musketeers, The Harvey Girls, Till the Clouds Roll By (mostly musicals), or find Murder She Wrote streaming somewhere. Instead I went back to the 1945 black and white "The Picture of Dorian Gray." I have never read the book, nor actually have I read any Oscar Wilde writings excluding scenes for acting classes. 

The story is well known by this point. Dorian (Hurd Hatfield) has a portrait painted by Basil Hallward (Lowell Gilmore). When it is done, Gray looks at it and wishes that he could remain looking the same way for the rest of his life. He is cautioned about that wish by Sir Henry (George Sanders) as there is a statue of an Egyptian Cat God on the piano (and in the painting) who is known to grant wishes. No one thinks of this Cat God, or even the portrait much after that. However, soon Gray finds himself experiencing life at the suggestion of Sir Henry. That means going to dive clubs and places that as a gentlemen, he typically would not be invited to, or expected to show up. At one of the clubs he visits, he sees this gorgeous woman who sings a charming song about a yellow bird, not wanting to be caged, even if the cage is gold. That woman is Sybil Vane, played by Angela Lansbury in her third ever film. Sybil and Dorian fall in love. Dorian brings Sir Henry, and Basil down to the club to meet Sybil, and to celebrate their engagement. Sir Henry suggest that Dorian test her love by inviting her back to his home, and suggesting that she spend the night. If she says no and leaves, then she is the perfect woman - except Gray has to imply that their relationship is over if she leaves. If she says yes, then clearly she is not the innocent woman that Gray should marry. Sir Henry is a cad (to be nice about it). 

Well, she initially says not and gets ready to leave, until he implies that they are over. Then she turns back. The next day Gray writes her, calls it all off and tells her that he will live a life of pleasure. If that life of pleasure leads to trouble, it is all Sybil's fault for not being the woman he expected her to be. He heads out for a night of pleasure and when he returns, something about the portrait is different. In the film, the portrait is only shown a few times - usually in full color (except when glanced in the background). It is an interesting choice. I also found the choice of Gray reading Wilde during their last scene to be interesting, and somewhat amusing. The film continues to show Gray and his life, how everyone around him ages but he doesn't. It all builds to the only ending the film and story could have. 

Lansbury is so great in this role. She sings so well, and is just charming, beautiful, and you can see the difficulty she has in making that decision. She does love him...but this leads to her downfall, and eventually the downfall of Gray. It is a fascinating story - though Sir Henry seems to only spout off little bon mots that are so Oscar Wilde. While these are charming in the comedies (Importance of Being Ernest, An Ideal Husband, etc), it comes off as just rude in this work. It seems like he can't have an actual conversation without having some crass opinion about it, and contrary to society. In fact, in the very first scene you can get a sense of who he is as he is reading a copy of Les Fleurs de Mal by Charles Baudelaire, while the Basil is reading about the life of Buddha. 

There are quite a few filmed versions of Dorian Gray. The only other one I have watched is with Ben Barnes as Gray, and Colin Firth as Sir Henry. This version was filmed after both actors were in Easy Virtue, but before Barnes worked on Narnia. If I own this version, I will probably do a write-up of it at some point.