10 Motion Pictures of Dorian Gray Ranked from Best to Worst
by Cineanalyst | created - 08 Sep 2018 | updated - 29 Jul 2020 | PublicAfter reading Oscar Wilde's only novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," I reviewed every screen adaptation I could find. Unfortunately or fortunately, there aren't as many Dorian Gray movies as there are for the other 19th-century English-language Gothic horror literature "Frankenstein," "Dracula" and "Jekyll and Hyde," even though I think the novel is well-suited for cinematic versions because it's partly about visual art and with the exception of maybe one chapter is a good and easy read. For my full reviews at IMDb for these movies, a link is posted at the bottom of each movie's brief summary in this list.
Also check out my ranking of Frankenstein films.
And my ranking of Dracula movies.
List now also at and open to comments at letterboxd: https://boxd.it/40PmO
My average rating of ranked movies: 4.4 stars.
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1. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
Director: Albert Lewin | Stars: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 14,435
The definitive "straight" version of the novel. It's literate, well acted and beautiful, including exceptional use of deep-focus cinematography, layered set design, ornate Victorian-era-styled decoration and stunning Technicolor inserts of the painting, which in its decayed form is an impressive work of art itself. George Sanders is perfect as Lord Henry.
My Full Review
2. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham
Votes: 22,353 | Gross: $0.16M
This rock musical cult classic is a loose reworking mostly of another Gothic novel, "The Phantom of the Opera," but its Faustian themes also reflect "The Picture of Dorian Gray." There's also a Frankenstein musical number as performed by a Caligari-eque band of KISS imitators. It's an entertaining, postmodern and highly cinematic experience from writer-director Brian de Palma.
My Full Review
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1915)
22 min | Short, Drama, Horror
Basil Hallward, a celebrated artist, had completed a portrait which he privately declared was his masterpiece. It was a picture of Dorian Gray, a wealthy and handsome young man, who was a ... See full summary »
Director: Eugene Moore | Stars: Harris Gordon, Helen Fulton, Ernest Howard, W. Ray Johnston
Votes: 44
This seems to be the earliest surviving, or at least available, screen version of the book. It's a two-reel silent film that selects the right parts to adapt, including Sybil Vane's Shakespeare performances--shamefully unseen in the other titles on this list--and Dorian's debauchery in the face of his changing portrait, which here is a photograph, and his sins mostly consist of a cocaine addiction.
My Full Review
4. Dorian Gray (1970)
R | 93 min | Horror, Thriller
A corrupt young man seemingly sells his soul to eternally retain his youthful beauty, all while a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
Director: Massimo Dallamano | Stars: Helmut Berger, Richard Todd, Herbert Lom, Marie Liljedahl
Votes: 1,276
Made at the height of the sexual revolution, this 1970 updating of the novel is explicit regarding the sexual "sins" of Dorian, including homosexual ones, and Dorian prostituting himself to a rich old lady. And in one scene, Dorian drops the soap in the shower, and Henry picks it up!
My Full Review
5. Dorian Gray (2009)
R | 112 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Rebecca Hall, John Hollingworth
Votes: 68,067
The most recent movie on this list and the dullest-looking one to appear in theatres, besides its more explicit scenes of Dorian's sexual decadence, all of its many alterations to the book are bad. Colin Firth as Lord Henry does his best to hold this mess together, but his character is ruined by the revised final act.
My Full Review
6. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters team up on a secret mission.
Director: Stephen Norrington | Stars: Sean Connery, Stuart Townsend, Peta Wilson, Jason Flemyng
Votes: 183,847 | Gross: $66.47M
Dorian Gray as a supervillain who copulates and spars with Mina Harker from "Dracula," who also has superpowers here from becoming a vampire. Lots of CGI-bloated nonsense.
My Full Review
7. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 111 min | Drama, Horror
In Victorian London, a beautiful young man is given a portrait of himself by an admiring artist. Soon after this, he treats a young woman cruelly and then notices that his portrait seems to... See full summary »
Director: Glenn Jordan | Stars: Charles Aidman, William Beckley, Shane Briant, Nigel Davenport
Votes: 515
Dan Curtis, of the TV daytime soap opera "Dark Shadows," produced rip-off of the 1945 MGM film at the top of this list. But, sadly, it looks and sounds like a "Dark Shadows" episode. Even the TV Dracula by Curtis is better than this.
My Full Review
8. Pact with the Devil (2003)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
A modern retelling of the Oscar Wilde novel.
Director: Allan A. Goldstein | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Ethan Erickson, Victoria Sanchez, Ron Lea
Votes: 792
Direct-to-video mess of an updated reworking of the book full of cluttered shots of time-lapse photographed traffic and an obnoxious soundtrack. For some reason, real actors Malcolm McDowell and Christoph Waltz are in it, while the rest of the cast are rank amateurs. Dorian is a supermodel, as in the 1983 version below, and like the 1915 film above, his portrait is photographic. And Lord Henry is the devil, I guess... so that's new.
My Full Review
9.
BBC Play of the Month (1965–1983)
Episode:
The Picture of Dorian Gray
(1976)
100 min | Drama
A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
Director: John Gorrie | Stars: John Gielgud, Jeremy Brett, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, Nan Munro
Votes: 245
Videotaped play that cowers from the most risqué implied subject matter of Wilde's tale, such as the sex and the opium den. It may contain more of Wilde's words than the other movies on this list, but it's the least appealing to look at.
My Full Review
10. The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983 TV Movie)
95 min | Drama, Horror
A young woman sells her soul for eternal youth and beauty, while her screen test grows elderly and depraved to behold.
Director: Tony Maylam | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Belinda Bauer, Olga Karlatos, Joseph Bottoms
Votes: 216
Yet another TV version, this one had a couple semi-novel notions: Dorian is a woman and a supermodel, and her portrait is a filmed screen test, but nothing of much interest comes from any of it. Otherwise, it's a heteronormative, illiterate, visually dull and poorly acted updated reworking of the novel. Anthony Perkins manages to be the worst Lord Henry I've seen. A 2007 TV "Frankenstein" handled its gender-reversal in more interesting ways.
My Full Review
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