The Picture of Dorian Gray

[Gordon]

"I am so glad that it's finally coming to DVD!"
- Oscar Wilde

Warner Bros. France are releasing Albert Lewin's 1945 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's legendary story, Portrait of Dorian Gray in March:

Amazon.fr page

Review

Sounds like a good transfer. Best of all, the English track is there and the subs can be turned off!

A very nice surprise.

[viciousliar]

That's brilliant news, Gordon - thank you for sharing - it contains quite possibly Dame George Sanders' best performance as the corrupting force of the young Dorian. And the Oscar-winning cinematography is stunning(and that's an understatement). Its only flaw is the ridiculous inclusion of the Technicolor sequence that reveals Dorian's horrific portrait. It disrupts the mood badly, but one can always turn the colors down before playback, I guess.

[Person]

Art at HTF reports here that Warner will finally release Dorian on October 7th. Commentary by Angela Lansbury. Splendid!

[Ashirg]

Announcement from DVD Times:

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Picture of Dorian Gray on 7th October 2008 priced at $19.97 SRP. George Sanders, Angela Lansbury and Donna Reed star in MGM’s 1945 adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Victorian horror novel about a man who stays eternally young while his famous portrait ages through the years. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards - winning one for Best Cinematography and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Miss Lansbury.

The Picture of Dorian Gray has been remastered especially for this release and boasts new bonus features, including cast commentaries, a vintage short plus a special cartoon.

Special 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

Artwork

[Cinephrenic]

I love when Warner sticks to classic posters. It sure took long enough to get this one out.

[Person]

Yes, great to finally see this superb film on R1 DVD.

I wonder which other titles Warner are releasing on October? It seems strange tp just have one title announced.

[Mr Sausage]

I saw this movie on tv once when I was a kid, and retain very few memories of it (a few scattered images and a vague sense of its plot). Anyway, I finally read the book this year, and everytime the sublimely insincere Henry Wotten would speak I would think to myself, "how perfect would George Sanders be for this part? It's like it was tailor made for him, or he it." A few days later I IMDBed the movie to read some reviews of it, and as I glanced at the cast list came across startling news: George Sanders was playing Wotten. I still don't know if I independantly shared someone elses good idea, or if somewhere back in my subconscious (or unconcious) brain this childhood knowledge was being carefully stored for me to feel implicitly as I read the thing.

I will almost certainly buy it. It's probably more successful than the novel, the latter coming off as a bloated, tho' interesting, short story, whose Paterian moments feel oddly inert. That said, everything out of Wotten's mouth is pure delight (he's clearly Wilde's mouthpeiece), and it's really very readable.

[CSM126]

I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to listen to Mrs. Potts talking about Dorian Gray...Such a bizarre selling point to me.

[ellipsis7]

About 12 years ago I interviewed Hurd Hatfield about his role as Dorian Gray, in an item for Irish TV, at his house in County Cork... Charming, eccentric and still narcissistic at something like 75, he took the male camera crew aback, asking them if they happened to have an eyebrow pencil, before he took his shot!.... Sadly he passed on in 1998...

[rohmerin]

I love this film. I'll pray for its Spanish release. Fucking WB Spain hates us, classic film buffs.

One question, who does own the rights of Lewin's BEL AMI? Oh, I love that movie too.

[dr. calamari]

About 12 years ago I interviewed Hurd Hatfield about his role as Dorian Gray, in an item for Irish TV, at his house in County Cork... Charming, eccentric and still narcissistic at something like 75, he took the male camera crew aback, asking them if they happened to have an eyebrow pencil, before he took his shot!.... Sadly he passed on in 1998...

What was he like? I once saw a brief interview with David Manners, and was amazed at how bizarre he seemed...like he'd ignored all current events since he'd retired from the movies in about 1936, and was sort of frozen in time. Kind of like a male version of Norma Desmond, but with little desire to return to the screen.