The Sins of Dorian Gray

Just as R.L. Stevenson's quintessential dual-personality tale was revamped by Hammer as DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971), it was not inconceivable that Oscar Wilde's similar narrative would be rethought on distaff lines. The result is quite tolerable under the circumstances but, emanating from the Rankin/Bass stable (renowned for animated kiddie fare!), it was deemed to have merely scraped the surface of what was basically a critique of the moral decay overtaking Victorian society (epitomized by the notorious Jack The Ripper killings). Not unexpectedly, then, the theme of the novel was updated to contemporary times and transposed to the glitzy fashion world of L.A. (making the whole feel rather like a typical "Emmanuelle" entry but without the copious nudity!): here, the protagonist becomes a modeling celebrity but, unwisely, the all-important "picture" is made out to be screen-test footage, cue unconvincing make-up effects to illustrate its increasing degeneration and, played over and over during the course of the movie, it proves quite enervating! Therein, however, lays its major problem: since the plot is supposed to unfold in the space of 30 years, the look (sets, costumes, hairstyles) throughout never changes to reflect this passage of time, which history books attest to having been pretty considerable! Anyway, the film essentially rests on the shoulders of its variable cast – led by Anthony Perkins in the Lord Henry Wotton persona (creatively redubbed Henry Lord!) and Belinda Bauer (not too bad considering, but perhaps managing best the bitchy aspects of the title role, and which would subsequently typecast her!). Olga Karlatos appears as Perkins' wife and rival(!) for Dorian's services (and affections?), Joseph Bottoms the pseudo-singer/pianist who captures her heart if only for a little while (precipitating his suicide) and Michael Ironside is the photographer eventually reduced to 'cleaning up' after her. For what it is worth, we are even treated to a cheesy title song which, again, is picked up ad nauseam along the way!

I Know. Oscar Wilde did not deserve this but here are some clues that may help us in judging this film more nicely. First of all, I think it was a good idea to make Dorian Gray a woman in the eighties as an aspiring actress-turned-to-be top model. Did you know that for the 1945 Lewin's version, Greta Garbo wanted the leading role dearly? Secondly, it is not so ridiculous to use a "film" instead of a picture or a "portrait". We have to remember that here we are in Los Angeles at the moment when the VHS exploded. This adaptation only reflects the epoch in which it was made. Could you imagine a girl snubbing a movie role for a modeling career instead nowadays? Finally, I liked the song. It summarizes the real story, it is seductive and tries to tell us the causes and consequences of the sins Dorian supposedly committed (but which of course we don't see). Unhappily, these elements alone do not make a good adaptation. I would have started by a better written script and a better casting. Anthony Perkins as Henry Lord (instead of Lord Henry Wotton, not so clever after all) is really alone in this one.

I have always admired the work of Oscar Wilde, and 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' has been one of my favourite examples of his work, since I read it at about aged 12.

It has been made into films a few times, with varying degrees of success.

The earlier 1945 film version with Hurd Hatfield and George Sanders was the epitome, in my opinion, and has yet to be equalled.

This 1980's TV-movie version is another attempt, and is certainly off-beat. It moves the tale up into the (late) 20th century, and this poses some stretching of the imagination when it comes to the characters, although it would have made location shooting a lot simpler....

In this version, the most obvious deviation was the choice of making Dorian a female, played quite well by the gorgeous Belinda Bauer, who we had seen earlier, in 'Archer, Fugitive of the Empire'.

In this case, the 'picture' of Dorian is a film screen test on celluloid that she makes at the beginning, and after she makes her wish for eternal youth and beauty, she feels that she must secrete this film away, and protect it, so that no ill will happen to her.

After this, she goes off and seduces whomever she fancies, drinks and parties just as she wishes, while the cine film slowly assumes the ageing and the scars of her debauchery. Meanwhile, all her friends and colleagues around her age at their natural paces, and they cannot believe that Dorian is still young and beautiful.

Occasionally, she sets up the projector, and in the privacy of her own home, plays the screen test. In each subsequent re-playing, her image is noticeably older and more depraved looking. Towards the end, the image is almost unbelievably ugly and dishevelled, and this of course, brings things to a head, as expected.

I found the film to be completely likable, and the characters were good to watch, although a little contrived. Never mind, this IS a B-grade TV movie.

Anthony Perkins plays Anthony Perkins to a tee in this one....you just sit there, waiting for the Norman Bates character to appear, but it doesn't. It's one of his 'goodie' roles.....

I still have this on Beta (Say What?) tape, and I haven't watched it for about 15 years, so tonight, I'll open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and run that film just one more time.......for the buzz.

And for Belinda...

"The Opener of the Way is Waiting"

As many students in my faculty I read THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY at least once because English literature is among the subjects in the course. As for the movie adaptations I saw only the 1945 one which is considered by many the most faithful adaptation with the movie in black and white but the painting scenes in colour. And when in January 2024 I finally started assaulting Michael Ironside's neverending filmography, I stumbled upon this different version. Is it good and faithful to the book or not? We'll find out.

The main difference with the novel and the previous movie versions is that this time Dorian Gray (Belinda Bauer) is a woman, and very beautiful and wealthy to boot but there is one problem; she repels and damages everybody around her tho she has been on the top of the world for at least 20 years. Well it's because she sold her soul with a screen test (unlike the original novel and other adaptations with a painting) for eternal youth and beauty while the screen test becomes older and depraved to the point that everyone seduced by it then has bad things happening. This goes on and on until one evening Dorian plays the screen test in her living room and she understands that she has to destroy the screen test for her safety and she does, accepting finally to become old.

Looking among the reviews I noticed only one that gives it a 10, only one that gives it a 1 and most of scores between 4 and 6 meaning that it might be a bad movie. Well, when I saw it I liked it more than the average people that reviewed it here probably because I saw it as just another version of the Dorian Gray story and it was just as good. So for this reason alone I'd recommend it.

Dorian Gray (female) started to age just like the real Dorian Gray (male) in Oscar Wild's novel. Disappointingly boring. This flick deserves one out of ten.