The Picture of Dorian Gray II
Oscar Wilde’s novel was filmed by Albert Lewin in 1945, a great adaptation with Hurd Hatfield playing Dorian, George Sanders as the aphoristic Lord Henry and Angela Lansbury as Sybil Vane. Lewin made a number of respectably arty films during the Forties and Fifties but Dorian Gray has always seemed the best to me, even if I am biased towards the story.
The film was shot in black and white but views of the painting were shown in colour. For the final view of Dorian’s decayed portrait he commissioned the hyper-real artist Ivan Albright (1897–1983) whose shockingly grotesque picture (below) provides a memorable climax to the film. That painting now resides in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Update: added a “before” view of the painting.
Update 2: added a link to a recent Wikipedia copy of the “after” picture that’s larger than previously available versions.
9 Comments, Comment or Ping
#1 posted by Eroom Nala
What about the Before portrait for a contrast?
:-)
http://theoscarsite.com/chronicle/1945img/dorian_gray.jpg
http://cc.ysu.edu/~tacopela/Milton/images/dorian-Hatfield.jpg
Not the best images but gives you some idea
Feb 28th, 2006
#2 posted by John
I did consider it but couldn’t find a good enough picture.
Feb 28th, 2006
#3 posted by Eroom Nala
More images including the before portrait in colour and a downloadable version of the film
http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=920&format=movie&theme=guide
Jan 4th, 2007
#4 posted by John
Hmm, $10 for an mpeg download sounds like a lot when you could probably find a DVD for the same price.
BTW, I have no idea why this meagre post is so popular unless people keep clicking it to find out why it’s at the top of the list.
Jan 4th, 2007
#5 posted by Eroom Nala
Everyone wants to be young forever.
Just don’t go about slashing your portrait.
Jan 4th, 2007
#6 posted by Jan Lee Martin
Hallo
I’ve discovered your site while looking for a good pic of Dorian Gray to accompany a story I am posting tonight….. now I’m writing to seek your permission to use the one you are using.
We are a not-for-profit organisation established in Sydney (now also Melbourne) to explore the future and to help others do the same. In the expectation of your approval, I’ll post the pic tonight (I won’t have another chance for a week or so) but can remove it instantly if you tell me you’d like me to do that.
Given your interest in Dorian, you might enjoy my story on longevity….
Best wishes - Jan
PS: By coincidence I found myself exploring the word “feuilleton” recently after it cropped up at a conference at Melk Abbey in Austria. See www.waldzell.org for more, if it interets you. Strong flavours of Hermann Hesse.
May 5th, 2007
#7 posted by John
Hi Jan,
As with many (most?) blogs, the images on these postings are often taken from prior sources so I don’t have any control over their copyright. Fair use rules in copyright generally allow you to repost things (espcially small images) if you’re not being exploitative but then I’m not a lawyer and different countries have different rules.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
May 5th, 2007
#8 posted by Taylor
Greetings. I just wanted to say that I love all of this work on Dorian Grey. I’m currently working on my own rendition for school, I’m 16, it’s a mixed media class. We have an option to do a “Free.” Painting, meaning no guidelines, no structure. I was so excited when I got this project, I knew right away what I wanted to do. I have researched the story before, but I just decided to get on and look at the rendidtion or the “Before” shot so that I could put myself a bit closer to it. See, I’ve only been around 16 years, so my painting shouldn’t be nearly as horrible. My teacher says that I’m very talented, and if she expected anyone to pull something like this off, it would be me. Thanks to whomever posted these things, great help!!!
Sep 28th, 2007
#9 posted by John
Glad to be some help, Taylor. I’ve just noticed there’s a much bigger version of the Albright painting now online:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray-_Ivan_Albright.jpg
Sep 28th, 2007
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