10 Movie Villains Obsessed With Immortality
8. Dorian Gray - The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1945)
An adaptation of the Oscar Wild novel, this film concerns not only eternal youth, but the superficiality of its appearances.
Wanting life's hedonistic pleasures to last, Gray makes a wish that his portrait could age in his stead, and his wish is granted. The likeness absorbs Gray's age and his sins as well, as the dandy goes on taking all of life for granted, believing as long as he looks handsome he is free.
1945 was a bit after The Wizard of Oz, but before color film was ubiquitous, allowing Dorian Gray a striking effect in the finale: a sudden, Technicolor flash of the grotesque portrait, heretofore unseen. Gray regrets his ways and attacks the likeness, causing him to die as he reabsorbs his age and sins. Meanwhile, those coming upon the gruesome scene find the portrait in its original state.
While Gray's attempt at absolution appears to have been punished by death, perhaps it ultimately freed him from the horror of immortality.