The Picture of Dorian Gray 1976 - Oscar Wilde - Part 9 - 10

[MsFullheart]

oscar wilde was gay!

[LadyGlyde]

Dorian is so bitch :D

[eugeniohz]

this scene is very gayish...... sorry you gay people, i got ZERO against you. but foock damn, this is quite gay.

was dorian gay or not?

[sybyly]

@eugeniohz everyone is gay

[Rapunzel251]

@sybyly He was not a gay! I wonder it is not living up to the script of the novel. 

[BelatedCommiseration]

Despite the subtext of the novel I do believe the homo erotic element is being played with all guns blazing in this version, when actually it was more subtle than that. Probably the trio of gay/bisexual actors playing the parts of Grey/Hallward/Wooton means that this element will inevitably be exaggerated. However I do think on its own terms I think the actors do play the part very will, except Firth can go a bit too far in being over mannered. Jeremey Brett was excellant though as Basil.

[sineaddg]

@BelatedCommiseration and also the bisexual brett

[SpockLover27]

This part freaked everyone out in my family when we were watching, lol twas creepy

[Maeglinchan]

gee gee Dorian * Alan !!!

[PeterR132]

If the plot had moved on 18 years when James decided not to kill Dorian, wouldn't Harry be well... dead? Or at least look far older? Also why were they talking about Basils death as though it was yesterday?

Still a terrific book/play/drama, whichever you prefer.

[wheresolive]

The Alan Campbell scene was my favorite part of the book. Wilde does a brilliant job of conveying horror with mere suggestion. We're not told what's in the letter and it's so much more intriguing that way. Peter Firth and Nicholas Clay do a great job here (they were in Equus together as well--the original stage production).

[meliante2]

@wheresolive Yes, they did an exemplary job in portraying this scene.

[WendyLloyd1981]

The dead linger sometimes- the dead man upstairs wont go away!

Lol

[PoliticalPars]

Similar themes in Dorian and Wilde's later work, the Ideal Husband, one of which is blackmail. And Dorian was written several years before Wilde himself faced slander.

[ghtjdjdhfjeosnvcurth]

02:41 - 02:46. Whoa! Most homoerotic scene ever!

[zanderwolfe]

I love just about every version of Dorian Gray I've seen but I admit this is a favorite. Yes it is stylized and very theatrical, but it is the closest I will ever get to seeing Peter Firth "on stage" when he was close to my age. Nicholas Clay is phenomenal in a small role and even though he is a bit old I think Jeremy Brett is a fine Basil. The ass-whooping reveals so much about Dorian, and Firth's physicalities make it work beautifully. It's a fine version!

[bronteteri]

LOL is Dorian gay ?????

[jennsjc]

@bronteteri In the original story, Wilde suggested in many parts there was a strong homoerotic relationship between the men at the time, especially with Dorian and Basil, and Lord Henry. So....yeah, I guess so. Debatable to some though!

[allpossibleworlds]

Isn't Nicholas Clay also Doctor Trevellyan in a Holmes episode with Jeremy Brett?

[JuanMacready]

@allpossibleworlds Yes he was a wooden actor.

[C1h9r9e5gie]

why does he always cuddle alan who obviously hates him. dorian is a freak

[rahrahryn]

Rewatching this, I think Dorian's majorly pretending to be a wimp, what with all his "DONT HIT ME PLEASE!" Maybe he knew instantly that it wasn't someone he should show his true face to.

[QueenBoadicea]

@rahrahryn He's not pretending. He was in genuine terror. In a scene omitted from this film, Jim learns of his error in letting Dorian go and tracks him to the country. Dorian sees his face and faints. He only breathes easily when he learns Jim has been shot accidentally during a hunt. Here we learn something of the callousness of other English gentry; the man who shot Jim sees his death as a nuisance because it spoiled the hunt, nothing more.

[justs0random]

dorian cant fight for crap!!

[ValeriiaJ]

hey, can you tell me what allan campbell's secret was??

[HConstantine]

Dorian used to screw him in the ass?

[ValeriiaJ]

I refuse to believe that Dorian was gay...

but it makes sense.

[QueenBoadicea]

@ValeriiaJ The novel doesn't mention what that secret was. It doesn't state explicitly anything of Dorian's crimes against society either. We only know about his silly habits and interests that capture his attention for awhile and his murder of Basil. Everything else is innuendo, supposition and rumor. Alan was friends with Dorian and then ruthlessly cut him out of his life. Why he did so isn't known so we don't learn what hold Dorian has over him.

[justs0random]

alan & dorian r both really hot.

lol

2:06 alan sooo wanted it

[justs0random]

I actually dont think that dorian is really gay. I mean he obviously acts exctremely gay but i thinks hes just using his gifted ability of seduction to persuasive and get ppl to do what he wants. like if i was alan. i wudda caved the moment he pushed me back on the sofa-like thing. jeez. he is yummy!!

[PeterFirthFan]

Both Jeremy Brett and John Giel;gud were homosexuals.

[Calith87]

well if there was any argument about whether or not Dorian was gay this scene settles it. He's like 2 minutes away from a blow job.

[GoddessOfDarkness007]

yay hes gay! i knew it xD

[batbreath77]

was good seeing Dorian scared ... like he had feelings ... even though it was for himself but that was the funny part LOL

[BuffyFreak7]

wouldn't people notice that dorian hasn't gotten any older after all this time???

O_o

[CassieLopez]

@BuffyFreak7 Yes Buffy, in the book people did notice -- they said that he had made a deal with the devil to keep his youth, but he was so beautiful and pure looking that when people were actually looking at him they couldn't believe any evil of him. It's a major plot point. The movie doesn't seem to deal much with that point.

[Ranja86]

Wow... so everything hints at Dorian having seduced Alan (I don't want to say he'd fucked him, in modern terms), and the pose where Alan is kneeling in front of him made me just think waaaaaaaay naughty.. :D

[Cost4RiC4giRl]

Noooo! Dorian is not gay! the director of this movie should b fined!

[Ranja86]

Then he is at least Bi, speaking in modern terms.^^ The book was intended to hint at homoerotic things.

[sadbaby01]

the character of Dorian Gray is definitely bisexual, or at least it is strongly implied in the book, as it was impossible for Wilde to be more explicit.

[lzlsanatomy]

Gay love is fabulous! ahahaha

[ellenvn]

The sounds Dorian makes at 6:56 and further... lol :D. I liked the book, but this movie is absolutely hilarious!

[wibba]

it's nice, but way way different from the original.

[Ranja86]

Not really. O.o I find this is perfectly fine with the original.. watch the new version, which IS indeed way different.

[HartB26354]

Yes, yes, Nicholas Clay!!!

[Gabriela1]

you should add the gorgeous Nicholas Clay to the tags! :-)

thanks for posting!

[PeterFirthFan]

This was groundbreaking stuff for the BBC in 1976.

[aleshevl]

And it seems to me that they speak with some not very british accent... or whether it only appears to me...

[ArcDodelijk]

True, at points Dorian sounds more scottish than english.

[PeterFirthFan]

Peter Firth sounds like Malcolm McDowell.

[aleshevl]

Its a wretched play. The film (if watched after the book) is totally disappointing.

[AnotherSpin]

idk, it seems like a play no matter if read or seen on tv, i like it

[koln1996]

They're almost kissing!!!

Alan goes down to his knees with his mouth right in front of Dorian"s p-!

HOT!!!

[dreamofswapn]

the title should be the picture of dorian GAY

[Merseyrock]

Interesting. I wonder if "gay" was part of the lexicon in Oscar Wilde's time, when he wrote the novel. And, if it was, whether he chose "Gray" purposely - as it veiled the word alusive to homosexuality. Loosely connected to this idea - I read somewhere that "Gay" was singer Marvin Gaye's original spelling for his last name. But he was bullied over it, as a schoolboy, that he added an "e", at the end...

[dreamofswapn]

interesting

[RynthaAndApocy]

@Merseyrock I'm pretty sure "Gay" wasn't a term for homosexual at the time, and was intended more as a sort of "happy" meaning. i say this because I was recently reading an introduction to the book "The Gay Science" by the philosopher Nietzsche and the translator was very firm on this point.

[Merseyrock]

Thank you! RynthaAndApocy. True, so as with merry and cheerful... May Nietzsche be a rewarding read.

[grai]

Is it me or is Peter Firth getting camper and camper as this goes on?

[SillyLoveSongBeatles]

hehehe ehemmmmm...I think that Alan was so angry with him, noo??? hmmm hehehe

[Noblefauf]

I thought Alan's actor (Nicholas Clay) was great in this role and subtly showed the various emotions Alan had towards Dorian that he was trying to hide.

[Tsuki570]

Not likely, because then Dorian's reputation WOULD be crushed. So far people just "gossip" about his sins, but to putt something in writing would be social murder. Dorian and Alan probably did crazy things in their past relationship that are shameful and could get Alan is huge trouble, socially or legally.

[antidisenstable]

I thought that Dorian was going to jump into bed with Alan Campbell! We never did find out what the letter was that Dorian was threatening to send if Alan didn't destroy Basil's body; I think I will go to my grave and still not know! Perhaps Alan Campbell will tell me in when I get to heaven lol - that's is he's in heaven - after all, he commited suicide lol.

[neripinkstar]

What I think after reading the book and seeing this movie is that maybe Dorian's letter said that he would accuse Alan of rape or having an indecent relationship with him.

Remember Oscar Wilde was arrested and went to prison because of being gay or something...

[ruzbehan]

That's correct.

[putanasvaftisinios]

i think the letter would be sent to alan's wife describibg alan's "relationship" with dorian

[meliante2]

@neripinkstar Indeed, Oscar Wilde went to prison because he was gay.

[inriches]

@neripinkstar Who is Alan??