The Trials of Oscar Wilde **** (1960, Peter Finch, Yvonne Mitchell, James Mason, John Fraser, Lionel Jeffries, Nigel Patrick) – 7237

Director Ken Hughes’s sterling 1960 biopic The Trials of Oscar Wilde is one of two films released at the same time about the dramatist, who was hounded, persecuted and martyred for his homosexuality. It was beaten to the cinemas by the rival film Oscar Wilde by only a few days in May 1960. The Trials of Oscar Wilde won the 1961 Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film and Finch won a well deserved BAFTA Film Award as Best British Actor.

Peter Finch gives an intense, thoughtful and very honourable performance and quietly rivets the attention as Wilde, who takes the Marquis of Queensberry (Lionel Jeffries) to court for, he alleged, libellously calling him a ‘somdomite’, then finds the tables turned as he is prosecuted on homosexual charges. Wilde has enraged Queensberry by having what he correctly believes to be a romantic relationship with his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, ‘Bosie’ (John Fraser). So it was very risky and dangerous of Wilde to take Queensberry to court, though Queensberry may have left him little choice.

The Trials of Oscar Wilde is filmed by writer-director Hughes with an acute, sympathetic eye, and is packed with witty Wildean lines and strong character performances. There is an impressively lavish production by Warwick Films partners Irving Allen and Albert R Broccoli (later the Bond movie king) and Harold Huth, with production design by the great Ken Adam. And the movie is imaginatively shot in Technicolor and Technirama widescreen by cinematographer Ted Moore.

There are three particularly outstanding performances in support. James Mason is excellent as the ruthless prosecuting counsel Sir Edward Carson, and so are Lionel Jeffries as the Marquess of Queensberry and John Fraser as his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, ‘Bosie’.

Ken Hughes’s screenplay is based on the biographical book The Trials of Oscar Wilde by Montgomery Hyde and on John Fernald’s play The Stringed Lute.

The Trials of Oscar Wilde also features Yvonne Mitchell, Nigel Patrick, Emrys Jones, Maxine Audley, James Booth, Sonia Dresdel, Paul Rogers, Ian Fleming, Laurence Naismith, Naomi Chance, Meredith Edwards, Michael Goodliffe, David Ensor, Lloyd Lamble, Anthony Newlands, Robert Percival, Liam Gaffney, William Kendall, Ronald Cardew, Cicely Paget-Bowman, Derek Aylward, Campbell Singer, Victor Brooks, Alfred Burke, A J Brown, Charles Carson, David Ensor, Edward Evans, Howard Lang, Gladys Henson, John Welsh, John Bennett and Richard Caldicott.

There were four other BAFTA Film Award nominations: Best British Actor (John Fraser), Best British Film, Best British Screenplay (Ken Hughes) and Best Film from any Source.

The British Government finally pardoned Oscar Wilde along with many others convicted of homosexual offences in 2017.

Oscar Wilde continues to fascinate and be venerated by us. Rupert Everett’s film The Happy Prince is released in June 2018.

John Fraser, born on 18 March 1931.

Leading man in UK theatre, films and TV John Fraser (born on 18 March 1931), also known for The Good Companions (1957), Tunes of Glory (1960), El Cid (1961), Repulsion (1965) and Isadora (1968), retired from film making and acting in 1996, and lived in Tuscany in Italy with his long-term partner Rod Pienaar. They returned to London in 2010. He published his exceptional autobiography Close Up in 2004, revealing his gay life and friendships.

RIP John Fraser, who died on 7 November 2020 in London, aged 89.

Irving Allen and Albert R Broccoli formed Warwick Films to produce films in the UK in the 1950s. But they disagreed over filming the James Bond books, which Broccoli liked but Allen did not. They met author Ian Fleming in 1957, but Allen said his novels weren’t ‘good enough for television.’

The Trials of Oscar Wilde [The Man with the Green Carnation] is directed by Ken Hughes, runs 123 minutes, is made by Warwick Films and Viceroy Films (in association with), is released by Eros Films (1960) (UK), Kingsley-International Pictures (1960) (US) and United Artists, is written by Ken Hughes, based on the book The Trials of Oscar Wilde by Montgomery Hyde and John Fernald’s play The Stringed Lute, is shot in Technicolor and Technirama widescreen by Ted Moore, is produced by Irving Allen (executive producer), Albert R Broccoli (executive producer) and Harold Huth (producer), is scored by Ron Goodwin and is designed by Ken Adam.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7237

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