The Picture of Dorian Gray

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Albert Lewin directs. Harry Stradling Sr. behind the camera. Herbert Stothart scores. Ferris Webster cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 181 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Directed by Albert Lewin, shot by Harry Stradling Sr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Herbert Stothart. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield and Donna Reed carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "Why did women talk about Dorian Gray in whispers?".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0037988 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Harry Stradling Sr.

Original score

Herbert Stothart

Editing

Ferris Webster

Makeup / hair

Jack Dawn

Runtime

111 min · 1h 51m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) ↗

Also by

Albert Lewin

• 
  Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

  1951 · ★ 6.8
• 
  The Moon and Sixpence

  1942 · ★ 6.3
• 
  The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

  1947 · ★ 6.2
• 
  Saadia

  1953 · ★ 6.0
• 
  The Living Idol

  1957 · ★ 5.2

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) - Original Theatrical Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-04-22
  ★ 9/10

  It's only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion. The Picture of Dorian Gray is directed by Albert Lewin, and he also adapts the screenplay from the novel written by Oscar Wilde. It stars Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Donna Reed, Peter Lawford, Lowell Gilmore, Richard Fraser and Douglas Walton. Music is by Herbert Stothart and cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr. Dorian Gray of Mayfair and Selby. Oscar Wilde's Faustian tale about a young Victorian gentleman who sells his soul to retain his youth is given a magnificent make-over by MGM. Pumping into it a budget reputedly of $2 million, the look and feel is perfect for this macabre observation of vanity, greed and self destruction. In many ways it's still an under valued movie, mainly because there will always be Wilde purists who think it lacks the writer's poetic spikiness, while horror fans quite often venture into the picture expecting some sort of violent classic ripe with sex, drugs and debauchery unbound. Lewin crafts his film in understated manner, never allowing the themes in the source material to become overblown just for dramatic purpose. He cloaks it all with an atmosphere of eeriness, thus keeping the debasing nature of Dorian Gray subdued. The horror aspects here mostly are implied or discussed in elegantly stated conversations, where the horror in fact is purely in the characterisation of Dorian himself. We really don't need to see actual things on screen, we are urged to be chilled to the marrow by his mere presence, and this works because Lewin has personalised us into this man's sinful descent by way of careful pacing and character formation. There are some jolt moments of course, notably the famous inserts of Technicolor into the black and white film, the impact of such bringing the portrait of the title thundering into our conscious. However, this is not about thrill rides and titillation, because the film, like its source, is intellectual. Lewin is aided considerably by Stradling's beautiful photography, which in turn either vividly realises the opulent abodes or darkens the dens of iniquities, so just like Lewin, Stradling and the art department work wonders and prove to be fine purveyors of their craft. Hatfield is wonderful, it's an inspired piece of casting, with his angular features and cold dead eyes, he effortlessly suggests the black heart now beating where once there was a soul. Yet even he, and the rest of the impressive cast, are trumped by Sanders as Lord Henry. Cynical, brutal yet rich with witticisms, in Sanders' excellent hands Lord Henry becomes the smiling devil like mentor perched on Dorian's shoulder. Dorian and Lord Henry are movie monsters, proof positive that not all monsters need to be seen hacking off limbs or drinking blood. In this case, the decaying of the soul is a far more terrifying experience. Fascinating, eloquent, intelligent and frightening. 9/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2026-10-10
  ★ 7/10

  Ok, so I know the book is all about "Dorian Gray" but for me this was always really about the ghastly character of "Lord Wotton" and who better than George Sanders to pick up that particular silk hat? He is determined to corrupt the naive and impressionable young "Dorian" (Hurd Hatfield) much like a cat with a mouse and so arranges for his friend "Basil" (Lowell Gilmore) to paint his portrait. These two men do start to become friends, and so once it's completed "Dorian" is given the portrait and as he gazes upon it's beauty he wishes that he would always look like that! Like many of the gentry of later Victorian times, he liked the company of the working class woman and so heads to an East End boozer where he meets and falls for "Sybil" (Angela Lansbury). "Wotton", though, still wants to play his games with his boy toy and so sets some cats amongst the pigeons that set "Dorian" on an increasingly selfish and self-destructive course that loses little of it's conviction as the years age everyone else but him. To add to his increasingly self-induced woes, those around him naturally become suspicious of his youthful longevity and that soon requires "Dorian" to take some drastic steps to keep his attic secret, well, secret. If ever there were to be a story of being careful what you wish for, then this Oscar Wilde tale has to be it. What seems perfect to "Gray" when he is young becomes something of a prison and Hatfield works well with the vanities of a role that is really quite tough for anyone watching to care for at all. The reverse is true of Lansbury's attractively presented "Sybil" and Donna Reed's "Gladys" who provides the later love interest and who also serves to be quite a fulcrum for the increasingly conflicted "Dorian". It's still Sanders, though, whose smarm-charm worked wonders here and stole the show and there is also one burst of colour amidst this monochrome depiction of the great and the good of an excess-driven London town that's really quite effective, too. This is a classy piece of cinema that does justice to a multi-layered story and it's well worth a watch.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  US

Key crew

• Assistant Set DecorationJohn Bonar
• Assistant Set DecorationHugh Hunt
• ProducerPandro S. Berman
• Art DirectionCedric Gibbons
• Art DirectionHans Peters
• EditorFerris Webster
• Costume SupervisorIrene
• NovelOscar Wilde
• Recording SupervisionDouglas Shearer
• Set DecorationEdwin B. Willis
• Costume DesignerFred Valles
• Unit ManagerKeith Weeks
• Makeup DesignerJack Dawn
• Costume AssistantMarion Herwood Keyes

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• painting
• attic
• painting comes to life
• never aging

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1945-03-01· New York City, New York
• Theatrical1945-03-03NR

Also known as

International titles

• Dorian Qreyin PortretiAZ