A cursed portrait hides the rotting soul of a man who never grows old
In short: In this 1945 supernatural drama, a young aristocrat makes a dark wish: that his portrait, not his face, should bear the marks of his sins. As he remains eternally youthful, the hidden painting transforms into a grotesque reflection of his moral decay, leading to a haunting tale of obsession.
Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in March 1945, this adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel was helmed by Albert Lewin, who both wrote the screenplay and directed the production. Pandro S. Berman served as producer for the project, which starred Hurd Hatfield as the titular Dorian Gray and George Sanders as the cynical Lord Henry Wotton. The film features a notable supporting cast, including Angela Lansbury, who earned a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the tragic Sibyl Vane.
The film is primarily presented in black-and-white, but it utilizes striking three-strip Technicolor inserts to show the changing portrait. Two distinct paintings were commissioned for the production. The initial, youthful image was created by Henrique Medina, while the final, hideous version—depicting a demon-like creature—was painted by Ivan Le Lorraine Albright between 1943 and 1944. Albright, an artist celebrated for his macabre style, adjusted the painting throughout the filming process to visually track Dorian’s descent into depravity.
Critical reception has remained largely positive over the decades, with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While some contemporary critics like James Agee and Pauline Kael found the film’s execution uneven or overly earnest, others praised its atmospheric, gothic elegance. Despite its artistic acclaim and an Academy Award for Harry Stradling’s cinematography, the film was not a financial success; MGM records indicate it resulted in a loss of $26,000 against a budget estimated at $2 million.
The narrative diverges from Wilde’s original text in several ways, notably through the inclusion of a romance involving Gladys and the imposition of censorship restrictions that kept Dorian’s most scandalous acts off-screen. In the film’s climax, Dorian stabs the portrait in a desperate attempt to undo his past, only to collapse dead as his own body finally reflects the true, withered state of his soul, while the painting reverts to its original, innocent form.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)
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