Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Richie-67-485852 I like a good story and this is a good story. It has mystery, drama and the supernatural making the viewer bound to the screen to see how it all comes about and what comes next. That's called entertainment. George Sanders does an excellent job as do all supporting players. This is the type of movie that if one spent time and money on the story and directing it would give a good return no problem. The dialog is very sophisticated making one have to pay attention. Back then, a man could devote himself to being what they called a being a gentleman even as a career. Here we see several men doing just that. The point is what do gentleman do? Devote themselves to the arts? Attend dinner parties? Practice high-sounding words to support their chosen field of endeavor? All that is here for you to see it for what it is. It even exists to this day. Rich, famous and powerful people still put on more than one face not having found the one assigned to them. There is a scene where the scripture "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul" and this is submitted to the viewer to ponder but without the religious under and over tones. Ask yourself the purpose of having excess of everything but enjoying nothing and the folly of it and see if it doesn't speak to you and to people you know. Whoever you are and whatever you do, enjoy it and make sense out of it for you will not be back this way again. That means there is something to this journey that needs to be discovered. This picture might add to that mystery. I ate breakfast while watching. A bowl of fresh Farina with nuts, blueberries, chia seeds and cinnamon which satisfied and filled me up. Vitamins to follow. Enjoy this well-done classic. I did

calvinnme ... as he was directed to play the part of Dorian Gray stiff and cold. I was motivated to write this review after watching last week's episode of TCM's "The Essentials" and hearing co-host Sally Field say that Hatfield was so dull, and that perhaps Peter Lawford should have played the part! Right studio, wrong actor. They were not making a musical comedy here! Some people on the Turner Classic Movies message board were suggesting Tyrone Power. The point is, these folks are not getting it at all.Hatfield plays Dorian Gray, an extremely handsome man of inherited wealth in Victorian England, who at age 22 has his portrait painted by his friend Basil Harwood. After the painting is finished Dorian wishes that he could remain forever young and the painting grow old. He does this in the presence of a replica of an Egyptian idol (a cat) that by legend has the ability to grant such wishes. Dorian gets his wish, although he doesn't realize it at first. The point is, the painting takes on the "life force" of Dorian. That is why the shots of it are the only ones taken in Technicolor in this black and white film. Dorian, in turn, "becomes" the painting. His expression is dull, lifeless, yet he is forever young. Likewise, the painting does more than age. The painting reflects the sins of Dorian to the point that, by the end of the film, the portrait looks like that of a demonic debauched horrible creature with smaller demons surrounding him.If somebody who leaps off the screen with charisma such as Tyrone Power had played Dorian Gray the way Power normally played most of his roles, the film would come out entirely wrong. I guess the things that do not ring true is how the women in Dorian's life are always saying that anybody that looks at Dorian can see that there is nothing but good in him. Wrong. There is nothing but nothing in him - he is like a handsome corpse in a coffin. Others have criticized the film because we do not see the great evils that Dorian does in his pursuit of pleasure. Thank not only the production code for that, but Oscar Wilde himself, who never enumerated Dorian's sins because he thought it would be better if the reader (in this case viewer) projected their own ideas about what Dorian had done to cause the portrait to transform so horribly.As for the other players, kudos to a young Angela Lansbury as Sybil Vane, the tavern singer who captures Dorian's heart after he has already become his portrait. Also, George Sanders, who convinces Dorian that only a life dedicated to pleasure is worth living, is always convincing and even witty as a devil in human form. It does beg the question, if Sanders is living the same kind of life as Dorian, since basically Dorian is a "disciple of his, why does he age normally through the 20 years or so that the film spans? This one is very much worth your time.

LeonLouisRicci Even MGM and the Production Code could not Diminish the Power of Oscar Wilde's Controversial and Classic Novel. The Book was Widely Read and Given Wild Criticism in Typical Victorian Dismissal as Decadent and Diminishing. One Critic said Something Like...It will destroy any young mind that it comes in contact with (paraphrasing), the Critic seems to compare the Book to a Venereal Disease.But that was Wilde's Cross to Bare, a Free Spirit Genius with Hedonistic Tendencies Living in an Era of Snobbery and Repression. The Film is a Worthy Mid-Forties Hollywood Production of a Gothic Grotesquery, a Philosophical, Psychological, and Social Rumination that has a Stunning Look and is Well Acted and Presented with Some but not All of the Novel's Explorations of the Soul and Man's Desires, that are not only Hampered by Societal Restraints and Religious Rigor, but by Time Itself.George Sanders Stands out as Lord Henry, but Delivers Wilde's Witticisms at an Accelerated Pace and some of the Profound Proes is Lost in the Hurray. Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray is Like a Sculpture (frozen in time) so it may be Somewhat Apropo. Angela Lansbury's Short Part is Given a Lot of Ink and an Oscar Nomination. Donna Reed and Peter Lawford show up but are Unremarkable and Forgettable.The Portrait Itself is a Co-Star and is Infamous and 1940's Audiences must have Shrieked at the Initial Sight of it. The Artwork Hangs in a Museum in Chicago.Note...The prolific and witty Oscar Wilde was a Journalist, Poet, Playwright, and Social Commentator. But this is His only novel and it is for this that He is most remembered. If not for His open Bi-Sexualty and an advocacy to live a life free of conventions.

AaronCapenBanner Based on the famous novel by Oscar Wilde, this adaptation, set in Victorian London, stars Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray, an initially pure but shallow young man who was corrupted by the sinful Lord Henry Wotten(played by George Sanders). Dorian, who has recently had his portrait painted, proclaims upon his soul that he wishes that the picture would show all his aging and inner ugliness, so that he will be forever youthful. This would come at a high price, as indeed it is true that the portrait does become more hideous over time, which requires that it be hidden from view. Dorian must eventually come up with excuses and stories to explain why he doesn't age, while his contemporaries all do, leading to suspicions which must be dealt with... Effective filming of this clever story with a good cast and direction, and memorable unveiling of the portrait itself, which is quite scary(and seen in color). Angela Lansbury has a key supporting role here as an early victim of Dorian's wickedness. Not really a horror film as such, and quite talky, yet also fascinating.