It has been many years since I saw this film, but after the credits rolled to one of the best musical scores I have ever heard I realised that the film is a ' lost ' masterpiece. In my opinion Ken Hughes made a visually beautiful film and had some of the finest actors of the time to support him, and Peter Finch gave a performance that should again in my opinion be considered as one of the greatest on film. With superb support from John Fraser as Lord Alfred Douglas the Oscar Wilde story unfolds. Not one scene is wasted in the telling, as we go through Wilde's marriage to Constance, his love for his children and his destructive relationship with Alfred Douglas. The searing scene of both of them in the holiday resort of Brighton where Douglas tears Wilde apart is one of the most tragic emotionally on film, and is for me the highlight scenes in this masterpiece of film making. The trial scenes themselves are diluted, perhaps due to the censorship of the time, and we never hear the evidence of the young men. Despite that the three trials are moving and heart breaking to watch. No spoilers but the ending is brutal and compelling and shows almost unbelievable cruelty. Finally a film that should be treasured for what it is; a love story brilliantly conceived and that should never be forgotten.
Review of The Trials of Oscar Wilde
