the problem with other actor cast in the rôle of dorian gray be that they either look too old for the part ( hurd hatfield and helmut berger and josh duhamel and david gallagher and ben barnes ) or that they be unable to pull off the english aristocratic manner without be stilted . dorian be the perpetual 19 year old ( or so ) and all milky skin and honey would lock and a describe by wilde and so the challenge be find an actor that have the maturity and range for the part ( i. e. and who can portray the naivité and callousness and and manipulativeness ) and but at the same time look like someone in his late teen . and peter firth pull it all off in this excellent british tv adaptation . gielgud a henry wotton and while considerably old than what wilde have in mind and do wonder with his scene wilde aphorism have never sound so natural and unforced . especially george sander in the 1945 version be pretty feeble by comparison ( and his costume do not fit ) . finally and jeremy bratt play basil a the most masculine and at the same time the most gay of the trio and again a fitting interpretation . in general and the film include enough gay subtext without turn dorian himself gay he all thing to all people and supposedly there no drug or sexual perversion he hasn not try in the 18 year cover by the story and but that make him more narcist than homosexual . he seem to equally wreak havoc on both sex here and a he should accord to the novel . of course the budget of this production be not very large and so everything feel a little stagey . particularly dorian encounter with sybil brother suffers from the obvious studio look . also and the final shot of dorian ( a puppet i suppose ) in his white toad like make up be more hilarious than convince and basil death scene be inadvertently funny . ( also and as far a i recall and basil should have be kill seat at the table . ) but all in all and this be a very worthy adaptation . i be sure wilde would have like it . the only thing missing be the sensual side . not so much sex scene and but wilde decadent world of fragrant flower and luxurious cloth and and precious gem isn not really explore here and i. e. the aestheticism be completely miss . but like i and claudius and the excellent acting make one easily forget these shortcoming of production value .