OT - Prince Caspian as Dorian Gray: Count the DS Connections

[Philippe Cordier]

Even though this posting is OT, I find four connections with DS. I'll try to remember to number them.

Whilst looking up something unrelated on imdb.com, I discovered that a new film version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" has completed filming in England and is awaiting release. U.S. distribution rights have not been acquired as yet. Dorian is played by the actor who plays Prince Caspian in the second "Chronicles of Narnia" movie (which I haven't seen). He seems a good choice, but I had always envisioned Ryan Philippe in the role, and Mr. Philippe was in fact attached to a production for several years, he may even have been a co-producer, but for some reason that film never made it beyond the planning stages.

As many DS followers now, the Quentin portrait (1) by Charles Delaware Tate was inspired by the novella "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. (And longtime readers of this forum will remember how many times I've posted about this ... )

Colin Firth plays Lord Henry, and the character of Alan Campbell, the "John Karlen" role of the Dan Curtis TV version (2), will be played by Douglas Henshall, who was in "Angels and Insects" (a role that gave him quite a bit of exposure).

The film will be a new take on the story that sounds interesting if not 100 percent faithful to the novel (alas!). There is even a character named "Angélique" (3) ... hmmm ...

And there's yet another link to DS. Sybil Vane is played by Rachel Hurd-Wood, who played Wendy in the recent movie version of "Peter Pan" directed by P.J. Hogan, who directed the 2004 Dark Shadows revival pilot. (4)

Read more about the new "Picture of Dorian Gray" in good-ol' "Fangoria":  http://fangoriaonline.com/home/news/9-film-news/1247-first-cast-and-filmmaker-comments-dorian-gray.html

And keep your fingers crossed that the film gets a U.S. release!

[Gothick]

Hey Philippe, I certainly do remember the lurvely "exposure" dear little (hmmm, not so little!) Dougie Henshall received in "Angels and Insects" (fabou tho the film was, the book by Miss Byatt was so much better).

That new version of Dorian Gray sounds potentially intriguing.  Have you noticed that this story *which inspired some significant storylines on DS* has had about four different film versions lensed in recent years? I believe they all sank without a trace.

The most hysterical version has to be the early 1980s TV version with, if memory serves, Anthony Perkins in the Lord Henry "role," in which Dorian was a female model and the "portrait" was a video clip (yes, it's the Eighties--whoo hoo! break out that hair gel and those shoulder pads!).

The most arty version--my vote goes for the Helmut Berger one from the late Sixties.

Probably the most brilliant from a dramatic and aesthetic perspective will always be the 1940s film with Hurd Hatfield who was nothing at all like Dorian in the book, but brought a hypnotically compelling understated moodiness to the role.

I personally am very fond of the Dan Curtis version.

G.

[arashi]

Thanks for the heads up on this. Colin Firth? Count me in!