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The Dan Macabre Collection: The Picture Of Dorian Gray (DVD)
Year: 1973
Rating: M
Director: Glenn Jordan
Cast: Charles Aidman , Shane Briant, Nigel Davenport
Release Date: February 02, 2011
Distributor: Beyond
The Film: 4.0
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5"...absorbing and dramatically strong."
Shown as a two-part television feature in the early ‘70s, this version (directed by Glenn Jordan) of the tale of a soul corrupted in exchange for eternal youth is absorbing and dramatically strong. It takes a few liberties with Wilde's original story, introducing a new female love interest (played by Linda Kelsey), among other things, but this isn't necessarily for the worse.
Shane Briant is perfectly cast in the title role. The star of various Hammer films, including Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974), he not only makes a remarkably pretty Dorian, but conveys the character's internal struggle and increasing indifference to human suffering. Sir Henry Wotton, the friend who sows the seeds of dissipation in Dorian, is played with relish by Nigel Davenport; it doesn't really matter that he's slightly older than the character should be.
