Directed by Ken Hughes
Written by Montgomery Hyde & Ken Hughes
Starring Peter Finch, Yvonne Mitchell, Sonia Dresdel, and John Fraser
Running time 2 hours and 10 minutes
Now on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“A halo doesn’t have to fall very far to become a noose.” 

Synopsis of The Trials of Oscar Wilde per Letterboxd:

The flamboyant Victorian wit (Peter Finch) sues the Marquess of Queensberry for a sodomy slur, but it boomerangs.

Something I find so interesting about that very short synopsis is how matter-of-fact it is. Which is also very true of the film. As a long-time Oscar Wilde fan, The Trials of Oscar Wilde is shockingly to the point. Despite its luscious cinematography and supremely great acting, the script doesn’t really dilly dally around in Wilde’s life. Which, I think, is largely due to the fact that it came out in 1960, while the Hayes Code was still in effect. As such, the film basically denies the romantic relationship between Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (while still making it abundantly clear that it was anything but a platonic mentorship). 

However, The Trials of Oscar Wilde doesn’t really shy away from the fact that Wilde’s sexuality is anything but heterosexual, a fact which became ubundently clear in the original deformation trial and then in the subsequent criminal trial. Which means that the film ends with Wilde’s separation from his wife, Douglas, and his life before the trials. An ending which doesn’t quite match up to the actual events of Wilde’s life, as Wilde and Douglas reunited for a few months after Oscar was released from prison and before his eventual death. Which is par for the course for the Hayes Code treatment of queer idenity. 

What features makes it special? 

Trailers for the following films: 

• The Trials of Oscar Wilde (The Man with the Green Carnation)

• Room at the Top

• The Chalk Garden

• Isadora

• He Who Must Die

• The Queen of Spades

• Murder by Decree

• The Internecine Project

Why you need to add it to your video library: 

While the lack of special features is a bit of a let down, it’s also quite understandable for a film of the time. It’s not like The Trials of Oscar Wilde is Citizen Kane, which has had many releases across different home releases and was deeply documented because of its place in our cultural history. No, The Trials of Oscar Wilde has only ever been available on VHS and DVD, with an equal lack of special features. But the transfer of the film, onto Blu-Ray for the first time ever, is positively stunning. 

After watching the trailer presented on the disc (these are the only special features, which are a nice time capsule of both films and the art of trailers), it’s clear how much love and care went into the Blu-Ray transfer. It’s vibrant and absolutely beautiful in its technicolor glory. The colors, production design, and costuming all shine through and make me yearn for films to be shot like this more. Which is enough to make me deeply happy to have a copy of the Blu-Ray.

The Trials of Oscar Wilde is now available on Blu-ray here.