The Picture of Dorian Gray DVD: Review By Mushy

In Director Albert Lewin's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" murder and and corruption dominate this tale. Based on a novel by the highly esteemed Oscar Wilde, this film follows a man who seems to live without conscious. Hurd Hatfield plays the title character in this shocker of film, which teams him up with Angela Lansbury as a woman who falls under his devious spell. While this story has been told and retold before, I think that very few films from the 1940s have as much power and shock design as this one.

Commentary Track

Angela Lansbury and Steve Haberman handle the commentary duties here. What I liked about this was that Lansbury's verbal offerings were more anecdotal, while Haberman gave us a more detailed account of the milieu in which this movie was made. While these two don't seem to follow each other explicitly, what they had to say was still quite interesting and informative.

Standard Presented. Presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition. This movie looked really good. Considering that this film was made 64 years ago that really says something about how much it has held up; both with the assets in making the DVD and its ability to communicate such a powerful message so many years later.

Dolby Digital: English Mono. This sounded really good. Warner Bros. always does a great job with the audio. I didn't have to turn things up too loudly and I was able to hear everything. The audio wasn't so much rich as it was present and that is what pulls the watcher into this film.

They have utilized what I think is the original one sheet from this film for the front cover of the DVD. It looks awesome (if not a bit cartoony). The back features of shot of Lansbury and Hatfield, a description of this film, a cast list and technical specs.

One of the pleasures of my job as a DVD reviewer for the ole MW is the fact that I get to review movies that I might otherwise not get a chance to see. The Picture of Dorian Gray certainly falls into this and I was grateful for the chance to get to see it. Aside from the fact that I love these kinds of stories, and that I love the time period covered, I really got a great deal out of seeing this movie. While the movie business and the language of movies continue to evolve and change, it's nice to see that good storytelling is always good storytelling.