When is a good time to deal with the scandalous topic of Oscar Wilde’s personal life? 1960, I guess. Oscar Wilde is a British film starring Robert Morley as the celebrates writer and John Neville as his “special friend” Lord Alfred Doulas.
Oscar Wilde is one of the great loves of my life (starting with my childhood obsession with his short “The Canterville Ghost”) so I went into this movie with no expectations. It only covers the trials between Wilde and Lord Douglas’s father with a rather strange portrayal of the aftermath. But as a film, it’s fast paced and keeps the attention.
Robert Morley and John Neville
First, two details that made me happy in this movie were showing Wilde’s grave and artwork in his home. The art are prints by Aubrey Beardsley, who both illustrated some of Wilde’s work and was friends with him. Beardsley own short life had rumors that were so much worse that Wilde’s scandal, but no one makes movies about him. I’ve been to Wilde’s massive grave but these days it’s covered in lipstick and plastic (to dissuade the kissing). In the film, it’s clean and the epic art-deco angel still has its genitals. Yep, sometime between 1960 and now some awful human decided to break off the penis of the Oscar Wilde grave. Why does he have to be metaphorically castrated?!
I could use this as a platform about the bigotry of the past, but there are other biopics of Wilde I can do that with. As far as authors go, this another of public vs. private image stories. The start makes it seem more like he was manipulated by Lord Alfred as a way to get back at Lord Douglas senior, but their actual relationship is kept vague. How it all effects Mrs. Wilde is touched upon l, but not made a major plot point. But whether Wilde is proven gay or not, the film shows how this public attack on his reputation hurts those close to him. The court case using Dorian Gray against Wilde is a big part of the evidence. Wilde argues that the prosecution mistakes the fiction from the creator which is something fandoms still struggle with.
