"BBC Play of the Month" The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John Gorrie

Writers:

John Osborne (adaptation)
Oscar Wilde (novel)

TV Series:

"BBC Play of the Month" (1965)

Original Air Date:

19 September 1976 (Season 12, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

John Gielgud	...	Lord Henry Wotton
Jeremy Brett	...	Basil Hallward
Peter Firth	...	Dorian Gray
Gwen Ffrangcon Davies	...	Lady Agatha
Nan Munro	...	Duchess of Harley
Mark Dignam	...	Lord Fermor
Michael Barrington	...	Mr. Erskine
Judi Bowker	...	Sibyl Vane
Gillian Raine	...	Mrs. Vane
Nicholas Ball	...	James Vane
Lawrence Davidson	...	Victor
Reginald Barratt	...	Mr. Hubbard
Paul Greenhalgh	...	Francis
Nicholas Clay	...	Alan Campbell

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Lord Henry Wotton: Uncle George, I want to get something out of you.
Lord Fermor: Money, I suppose.
Lord Henry Wotton: No, no, no, it isn't money I want. You see, it's only people who pay their bills who want that, Uncle George, and I never pay mine.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Portrait of Dorian Gay (1974)

Marvelously acted adaptation uniting two superb writers

Playwright John Osborne's (Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer) dramatisation of Oscar Wilde's only novel positively revels in the homosexual subtext of the original, perhaps too much so. Nonetheless, the dialogue, the acting, with a cast headed by Sir John Gielgud & Jeremy Brett, and the brilliantly cerebral production (marred only by a "too quick" ending) make this worth the while of any lover of Theater, with a capital "T".