Horrorfest 2011: The Picture of Dorian Gray

It's 19th century London and the handsome, mild-mannered Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) is seduced with the possibility of living a hedonistic lifestyle before he grows too old to enjoy it by worldly gentleman Lord Henry Wotton (George Sanders) in this classic film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel.

As Dorian Gray explores the seedier side of London, he falls in love with a lower class but innocent singing showgirl (Angela Lansbury). However, not all is as it seems, and as Gray attempts to protect his terrible secret his love affair falls apart and the bodies start piling up.

Gray's secret? He somewhat inadvertently wished for eternal youth, transferring not only the ravages of age but also of sin to his own visage on a recently painted portrait. The portrait's painter, Gray's friend Basil (Lowell Gilmore) becomes suspicious of Gray's sudden change in attitude and lack of change in appearance as the years go by, though Basil's daughter (Donna Reed) is devoted to the idea that Gray is just as innocent as he was when she was just a little girl and knew him as a young man.

This is a great production, beautifully shot in black and white with the notable exceptions of a few color shots of the portrait itself, at first beautiful and later even more twisted than you'd probably imagine. The score is also haunting, featuring a particularly well placed Chopin piece used as a repetitive and chilling theme throughout. There are also several compelling performances, particularly George Sanders as the philosophically hedonistic, but not evil, inspiration for Dorian Gray's life of sin and Angela Lansbury as the showgirl with a tragic destiny. It's surprisingly relevant and modern the way Gray toys with the showgirl's emotions as he's initially courting her. All those pick up artists on TV and in self help seminars could take notice of this tale as an example of how manipulating someone's feelings can lead to disaster.

I only have two complaints -- one nitpicky, the other legitimate. First, the nitpick. Because of the way the movie is cast and the way the plot works out, the most interesting actors, Lansbury and Sanders, are taken off of center stage early on. We're left with Hatfield, but he has a thankless role as the cold, calculating Gray.

The more legitimate complaint involves a redundant and intrusive narrator who butts in at the worst times and seems to explain things the audience could easily figure out for themselves by simply watching the movie. I'd be willing to write this off as a sign of the times in which the film was made if I hadn't already seen plenty of films from the same era that don't have this problem.

Still, that's not enough to eclipse an otherwise compelling and tragic story.