Oscar Wilde [1960] [DVD]Robert Morley (actor) Phyllis Calvert (actor)
Format: all-region dvd (worldwide) Runtime: 94 min Quality: Very good, 4:3, b/w *ads have been edited out
Emboldened by the Government's Wolfenden Report, British film-makers at the turn of the 1960s began to deal frankly with homosexual themes. Unfortunately two film companies hit on the same idea, an Oscar Wilde biopic, at the same time, and this modest production, directed by Russian actor Gregory Ratoff, who died months after the premiere, had its thunder stolen by the more ambitious The Trials of Oscar Wilde. Nevertheless it is well worth seeing, with Sir Ralph Richardson and Alexander Knox sparring in a grippingly staged courtroom scene, and Robert Morley, although too old, revealing hidden depths in the title role. |