(1976 BBC Play of the Month) Enthralled by the perfection in the face and figure of a young man, the artist Basil Hallward (Jeremy Britt) paints a standing portrait of Dorian Gray (Peter Firth), in his marvelous youth, to whom he later confesses his love and worship for "the visible incarnation of unseen ideal."

Basil's friend, Lord Henry Wotton (John Gielgud), dispersing aphorisms (vaporous theories of life, love, and pleasure) as readily as breath - the only thing he'd change about England would be its weather; deception necessary in marriage; offering advice to an elderly woman, desiring the return of her youth, to simply repeat the follies of her youth; noble motives are the result of stupidity - takes a keen interest in Dorian (all sins take place in the brain's thoughts and feelings): "All influence is immoral."

Seeing the finished painting, Dorian exclaims ruefully that it will always remain a picture of youth: If only it could grow old instead of him, he says he'd give his soul. This morality play of Oscar Wilde's novel, dramatized by John Osborne and directed by John Gorrie, provides us with a God's eye view of a man's soul before and after a life of depravity. Explaining that he has put too much of himself within the painting (his best work ever), Basil, vowing never to exhibit it, gives the canvas to Dorian.

Women marry because they're curious, says Harry, hearing of Dorian's engagement, men because they're tired. Of a 17-year-old actress, Sibyl Vane (Judi Bowker), Dorian says: "She's everything in life to me." Romance, exposits Harry, is self-deception that results only in deceiving others.

Feeling "proud" rather than humbled at being admired by a rich, young aristocrat, Sibyl tells her mother: "Love makes people good." Her brother James (Nicholas Ball), about to set sail for Australia, swears he will kill this suitor (at the time name unknown) if any harm comes to her.

Art and love are merely forms of imitation, expounds Harry: Women inspire men to create masterpieces, but then prevent them from accomplishing the feat. Basil and Harry accompany Dorian to see Sibyl in Romeo and Juliet on the stage, witnessing a mediocre performance. Extremely disappointed and chagrined with her inferior acting in front of his friends, Dorian brutally berates her as "shallow, stupid," as she tearfully attempts to explain that having found real love, that which she portrays on stage now seems false.

Unmoved, calling her a "third-rate actress with a pretty face," Dorian throws her off. At home, after noticing an unpleasant change in the painting, his conscience feels a pang of remorse: he writes a letter to Sibyl, apologizing and proposing marriage.

Unfortunately, Harry arrives with news of the girl's taking her evening's tragic role as Juliet too seriously. At first Dorian takes full responsibility - "I have murdered Sibyl Vane" - realizing there is "Nothing to keep me straight." Yet by the time Basil shows up, Harry has convinced Dorian - sounding heartless, saying he doesn't want to be at the mercy of emotions - to attend the opera later that evening.

Over eighteen years as the painting (hidden away in an unused room) accumulates the defects of Dorian's soul without affecting Dorian's outward appearance, rumors of scandal circulate throughout London of his corrupting influence. Desirous to know Dorian's secret of retaining his unblemished youth, Harry says: "If I could get back my youth, I'd do anything in the world - except get up early, take exercise or be respectable." Only two things, death and vulgarity, cannot be explained away, Harry apothegmatizes, dismissive of Dorian's crimes as vulgarities beneath a gentleman.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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