Dossier
The Picture of Dorian Gray on Screen and Stage
1915
It is extraordinary that there should be several silent movies made of Oscar Wilde’s novel, which depends so much on the power of language.
This is a technique that Shakespeare used very often in his plays, for example in Hamlet.
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A 1915 version* seems to be the earliest still surviving and available. Director Eugene Moore chose the right parts of the book to adapt*, including Sybil Vane's appearances in
Shakespeare’s plays, which are left out of most productions. We watch Dorian, who is watching Sybil playing different parts on stage, in a play-within-a-play technique*. The excellent use of
mirrors too brings our attention to the theme* of ‘doubles’ in the novel. One aspect which works well on film, is to turn the portrait into a photograph. This makes the changes we see in it more realistic.
version (n.) the way in which something appears adapt (v.) change to a new situation technique (n.) a particular method of doing sth. theme (n.) an important idea or subject