Maintains the essence of the story

"I sent my soul through the invisible,
Some letter of that after-life to spell;
And by and by my soul returned to me,
And answered, `I myself an Heaven and Hell'"
- "The Rubaiyat" Omar Khayyam

Dorian Gray, with the help of Lord Henry and Basel's painting, realizes that youthful looks are everything and proceeds (in the presence of an ancient Egyptian cat god) to sell his soul in exchange for letting the portrait grow old while he stayed youthful looking.

Although the story was slightly modified for the sake of the media and the long diatribes were cut out, Albert Lewin - Director / Writer (screenplay) left in the most important dialogs directly quoted from the book.

The movie itself is in black and white with some color plates of the portrait included.

One of the biggest surprises is that Angela Lansbury plays Dorian's love, Sibyl Vane; she looks like a little china doll as she sings "Little Yellow Bird". Later Lansbury will repeat this performance in the series "Murder She Wrote".

Even though Hurd Hatfield plays Dorian, George Sanders with his snotty sounding voice steals the show as Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian's amoral sounding friend.

terrific acting wonderful story

I just loved this movie. I especially loved George Sanders in this film. This story by Wilde is so thought provoking. I have watched it again and again.

Let's have some fun with this.

The character, Lord Henry (George Sanders) may represent the author, Oscar Wilde. I think he is Satan. Sanders is a personal favorite of mine & he doesn't disappoint here. He insinuates himself with Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) who is getting his portrait done by his best friend Basil. Dorain is convinced that if he beseeches the Cat God "Bastet" he will be granted eternal youth & beauty. Without fully realizing it, he has sold his soul. So begins his life of immorality, leaving misery & death in his wake. Everyone he touches it seems comes to grief. Everyone except Lord Henry who looks on approvingly. The decades pass & Dorain retains his youth. Even Lord Henry seems to age. The portrait having been locked up & hidden is showing Dorian's age. The movie is black & white except for a few specific scenes. We don't see the portrait age of course, that would kill the suspense at the end. Angela Landsbury & Donna Reed have small but important parts as two women in Dorian's life. This is a fine adaptation of Oscar Wilde's only novel.