The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

SPOILER ALERT!!

Actually, is a spoiler alert required for a movie from 1945? I think the statute of limitations has run out. Anyway, safety first.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) was finally released to DVD this month. Based on the Oscar Wilde short story, its basically a classy, if overlong, episode of the Twilight Zone.

Set in Victorian London, aristocrat Dorian Gray, upon having his portrait painted by an artist friend, is struck with the idea that his image in the portrait will remain unchanged long after he has given in to old age and even death. This prompts him to make a wish that the effects could be reversed...so that his image in the portrait ages while he remains eternally youthful.

The wish seems granted, and the unaging Gray devolves into an endless, meaningless life of debauched pleasure-seeking.

You've seen the "before" portrait of the young, uncorrupted Dorian above. Scroll down to see how the portrait looked after a lifetime of hard living.

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This ravaged figure would like right at home on the cover of Tales From the Crypt!



A detail of the same portrait. It looks like there's a lot going on in the background. Unfortunately the limited resolution of the DVD prevents closer analysis.