4. The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1945) - Dorian Gray
Dorian Gray is a wealthy young man, very handsome and also very suggestible. He is sitting for a portrait by his friend Basil when the amoral Lord Wotton comes into his life. Wotton is cynical and witty. He tells Dorian that hedonism is the way to a happy life and that youth is the ticket. Dorian then makes a wish that he never grows old... Dorian falls in love with a singer named Sybil. They get engaged very quickly but under Wotton's spell of hedonism, Dorian ditches Sybil who consequently kills herself. Dorian takes on a detached air, that has been passed to him from Wotton. After he flagrantly goes to the opera when he hears of Sybil's demise, Dorian notices a change in his portrait and frightened, he locks it up. He then devotes his life to depravity and debauchery. Scumbag. Dorian's behaviour becomes worse and worse over the years to the point where he is killing people. But yet, he remains a fresh faced youth. Everyone marvels at this. Hurd Hatfield plays Dorian magnificently. His glib appearance, when we know he has been living a life of sin, is wonderful. I like the way he only has one facial expression the whole way through the film. Humanity has been replaced with callousness and egotism. We can't blame Wotton completely for this. At the end of the film, Dorian is a monstrous scumbag who has gotten away with far too much. His comeuppance is satisfying.