Book Vs. Movie: The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Oliver Wilde Novella Vs the 1945 Film Starring Angela Lansbury
The month of October is one of our favorites because we get to indulge our love for scary ghost stories! This episode focuses on one of writer Oscar Wilde’s biggest commercial and critical successes–The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde is one of those intimidating subjects to cover as he is one of the most controversial and celebrated writers & thinkers of the 19th Century. Fans worship his every bon mot and admire his bravery to live his life on his own terms. He died in 1900 at the age of 46 but his legacy looms large to this day.
Originally published in Lippincott’s Magazine in 1890, the story of The Picture of Dorian Gray was created out of a dinner conversation between Wilde and Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Dorian Gray is the subject of a painting by Basil Hallward who one can say has a bit of a crush on Gray. Being a libertine, Gray wants to stay beautiful forever and is granted his wish.
The portrait remains in his attic and ages as he cavorts around Victorian England which scandalized the world back when it was first published. The official Wilde-approved version is at the Morgan Library in New York City. It features his thoughts on sex, sexual desire, and “art for art’s sake.”
The story has been adapted dozens of times over the years, but the 1945 version directed by Albert Lewin is the most critically praised. Angela Lansbury earned an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress playing Sibyl Vane
So, between the novel and the movie–which did we prefer?
In this ep the Margos discuss:
- The incredible life of Oscar Wilde
- The life of homosexuals during Victorian England
- The main differences between the novel & film.
- Starring: George Sanders (Lord Henry Wotton,) Hurd Hatfield (DorianGray,) Donna Reed (Gladys Hallward,) Angela Lansbury (Sibyl Vane,) Peter Lawford (David Stone), and Lowell Gilmore as Basil Hallward.
Clips used:
- The artist what his creation has done to Dorian Gray
- The Picture of Dorian Gray trailer
- Dorian watches Sibyl Vane sing
- Dorian falls in love with Sibyl
- Lord Henry tells Dorian to live life to the fullest
- Good-Bye Little Yellow Bird by C.W. Murphy & William Hargreaves
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