Playwright Oscar Wilde's homosexuality is exposed when he brings a libel action against his lover's father, leading to his own prosecution.Playwright Oscar Wilde's homosexuality is exposed when he brings a libel action against his lover's father, leading to his own prosecution.Playwright Oscar Wilde's homosexuality is exposed when he brings a libel action against his lover's father, leading to his own prosecution.
Martin Boddey
- Inspector Richards
- (as Martin Boddy)
Joe Beckett
- Jury Member
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the more modest of the two biopics of Oscar Wilde which opened in Britain, where both were made, in 1960. The two films were announced by rival companies within a few days of each other, began filming almost simultaneously, and were released in cinemas only a few days apart. This black-and-white, low-budget version made it onto the screen first, but was dismissed by most critics, and failed at the box-office. The other movie, "The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960)," was lavishly produced in Technicolor and Technirama and featured a star-studded cast led by Peter Finch as Wilde. It got rave reviews, but it, too, failed financially.
- GoofsWhen the Marquis of Queensberry writes his insulting note - "To Oscar Wilde, posing as a Sodomite" - the club desk clerk to whom he has given it consults a dictionary for the meaning of the word. The definition is clearly cut and pasted from another source, and in addition, it has been cut and pasted, perhaps deliberately, into the middle of the dictionary's definition for "sentimental."
- Quotes
Oscar Wilde: [to Lord Alfred] Shall I tell you of the great drama of my life? It is that I put my genius into my life, but only my talent into my work. Writing *bores* me so.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits are shown over the background of Wilde's tomb, specifically over his name on the side of the structure.
Featured review
Cheap sets and great acting.
Whatever money was spent on this movie certainly didn't go on the sets, the furniture looks as though it was assembled by a local handyman and the trial scenes, which make up the largest part of the film, seem to be taking place in a converted church hall or school gymnasium with hastily constructed props. However this happens to be a very good film indeed, the superb acting carries the film and makes it far better than the more lavish Peter Finch version which was released about the same time.
I've always thought of Robert Morley as just a comic character playing himself but here he really becomes Oscar Wilde. You can imagine Wilde talking and behaving as he does in this movie . The verbal exchanges between Morley as Wilde and Ralph Richardson as the prosecutor are magnificent. Wilde enjoying the limelight, plays to the gallery and wins every one of the exchanges until he gets too confident, makes one fatal error and then the prosecutor starts to chip away at his defense.
The minor characters are uniformly well acted with Phyllis Calvert as Wilde's wife, Dennis Price as his loyal friend and Edward Chapman as the boorish Marquis of Queensbury . John Neville is probably a little too old to play Sir Alfred Douglas but his skilful acting makes it work . The final scenes between Wilde and his family are very touching.
Well worth seeing.
I've always thought of Robert Morley as just a comic character playing himself but here he really becomes Oscar Wilde. You can imagine Wilde talking and behaving as he does in this movie . The verbal exchanges between Morley as Wilde and Ralph Richardson as the prosecutor are magnificent. Wilde enjoying the limelight, plays to the gallery and wins every one of the exchanges until he gets too confident, makes one fatal error and then the prosecutor starts to chip away at his defense.
The minor characters are uniformly well acted with Phyllis Calvert as Wilde's wife, Dennis Price as his loyal friend and Edward Chapman as the boorish Marquis of Queensbury . John Neville is probably a little too old to play Sir Alfred Douglas but his skilful acting makes it work . The final scenes between Wilde and his family are very touching.
Well worth seeing.
helpful•360
- Cajun-4
- Oct 19, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Ancora una domanda, Oscar Wilde!
- Filming locations
- Père-Lachaise cemetery, Paris, France(Oscar Wilde's grave site)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content