4/5 A haunting story
  by C Wahlman (Merrillville, IN)
Everyone seems to understand the basic plot of The Picture of Dorian Gray: A man trades his soul for the appearance of eternal youth. Beauty and vanity drive a man, and his horrors remain for ever hidden, as they are bound in a portrait. The film adaptation is marvelously done. The quiet stated Victorian culture dominates, and almost makes the film feel slow, but the genius is hiding evil in the mundane. A man who never ages does not scare his contemporaries, but it scares me. Nothing graphic or gory, this film haunts with the idea that evil is always lurking, but you may never see it.

When the director does exhibit an "illustration" of evil, the audience is treated the gruesome portrait painted by Ivan Albright (available to view in the gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago). The painting, and its Technicolor presentation on film, is brilliant and striking. The effect of this colorized image with dramatic music is shocking and haunting.

Beautifully under-acted with true Victorian zeal, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, and Peter Lawford do a superb job. Donna Reed did not enjoy making this film, and it shows. Hurd Hatfield is remarkable as the youthful, soulless cad Dorian Gray. This film is not to be missed by old movies fans, but highly recommended for all.

3/5 Old but stillvalid
  by Daniel J. Agostinho
This movie is of a by gone erra but the message is still valid. The characters make the story interesting, just for the characters themselves.

5/5 Dorian Gray
  by JNL Hearts (Portland, OR USA)
I've read the book and it was good. But the movie was amazing. So rarely is the protagonist someone you really come to hate, but this is the exception. Hurd Hatfield really plays the scoundrel well. The story has such great messages: Careful what you wish for, If your life is based on appearances what will you have later and all that. I don't know how many other versions there are of the story, but this one is far superior. The use of color, in an otherwise black and white movie, to show what Dorian has done to himself, or his portrait rather, is ingenious and quite haunting.
The story starts with Dorian young and beautiful and carefree. But once a new friends puts the idea of never growing old and a masterfully done portrait of Dorian retaining the stains that age comes with instead, he makes a wish. And like all plot devices, it works. Dorian falls in love with a young poor actress and once he finds that his influencial friends disapprove, he tests her to see if she is worthy of his adoration in a most cruel fashion and jilts her when she fails. Once he realizes that he loves her and it doesn't matter what his friends think, she has already killed herself. He then begins living his life as a shell of a person, doing the right things and mixing with the "right" people, but behind the backs of his friends is doing demoralizing things and his protrait is baring the brunt of his withering soul. After years he mysteriously remains the beautiful youth that should have stayed in the painting. Will the promise of a new love be enough to turn him around? Is there anything he can do to reverse the decay of his portrait, and therefore his soul? Will someone else end his wretched life for him?

5/5 Great for watching when you need to read the book for school ;)
  by Ryan Galate (USA)
I watched this movie so I could understand the book that I needed to read for school. It really helped me out and was cheap to buy. The movie was long and kinda boring if your looking for a good movie to watch I really would not suggest this unless your in to that kind of stuff.

5/5 A classic movie that is still meaningful today.
  by Charlene E. Thiede (Iowa)
This is an old movie that still has a lot to say to people today.