HURD HATFIELD IN “THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY” (1945)...Is he really a good actor?
"But his acting was so stiff and wooden!!! He's a lousy Dorian!"
Truth be told, Hurd’s so-called “emotionless” performance in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945) was 100% on Albert Lewin's direction. According to Angela Lansbury, Lewin would stop rolling the cameras once Hatfield makes an obvious expression on his face. Much to Hurd's frustration because his usual acting style is quite animated, Hurd wanted to perform with more emotion just like the character in the novel. But alas the director's power overrides that of the actor's.
"Casting Hurd Hatfield was a big mistake. He looked nothing like the Dorian in the book who was blond and blue-eyed."
It took Albert Lewin over 1 year to find the Dorian Gray of his vision and ultimately chose Hurd Hatfield among multitudes upon multitudes of handsome blond-haired, blue-eyed actors (that's right purists, you just read that). The casting decision was not a mistake nor was it made sloppily; it was done strategically and deliberately. And yes, Hurd did played the part with feeling at the audition and even threw the script across the room when he finished!
Many film scholars justified that Hatfield played Dorian Gray with little feeling because his character essentially became the painting itself. Dorian wished to have eternal youth while the picture would age in exchange for his soul, thus the man and painting traded places. The painting has life, it grows old and grotesque as a consequence of Dorian's actions. Dorian, a man with no soul, lives in shallowness and emptiness as reflected in his mask-like face.
Also to point out, half-way through the film Dorian said he wanted to be in control of his emotions and refrain from yielding to them . There's your canonical explanation for his aloofness! http://randaroyce.tumblr.com/post/7314809451
Here's another possible reason on why Lewin wanted Hatfield to act with little feeling in this film. Now this is actually my conjecture, but it makes sense with my research. As many would understand, making strong facial expressions would wrinkle the face. Smile lines and crows feet form when happy. Forehead creases when worrying. Eyebrows close in and skin folds in between when angry. Bursting up in tears crying gives out the most unflattering face of all. To put it short, it's impossible to look extraordinarily "beautiful" without scrunching the face. According to Hatfield, filming would stop at the end of the day when the clock strikes 4 pm or when he looked tired (orders from Lewin). As Dorian Gray, Hurd's role was to be the epitome of youth and beauty in front of the cameras. That means any signs of physical deterioration (or wrinkles) from said character would not be filmed.
Something to note, "Dragon Seed" (1944) was Hurd Hatfield's first film, even though he won the role of Dorian Gray through auditions before that. Quite different from Dorian, his character Lao San Tan outwardly expresses playfulness, fear, grief, and most of all anger through his facial and body gestures, and tone of voice. Obviously not a bad actor since he displayed emotions in his first movie.
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/umZYC6ZrqDY/
Even before appearing on the silver screens, Hurd Hatfield often played comical characters in theater when he was under Michael Chekhov. Hatfield even said that his theatre friends/former cast members were disappointed with "Dorian Gray" because they were so used to seeing him on the funny front rather than being deadpan serious.
But Hurd Hatfield's Dorian Gray was not totally devoid of emotions. A better way to describe his approach (that was appointed by Albert Lewin) is subtlety. Despite having both hands tied behind his back when making this film, Hatfield managed to slip some quiet emotional expressions throughout the entire movie. The first time Dorian laid eyes on the portrait, his face lit warmly in awe of its shear beauty. He was both bashful and flattered when the host put him in the spot light at the Two Turtles. Whenever he talks about Sibyl Vane (Angela Lansbury) and sees her perform, he's naively enthusiastic. After the first transformation of his painting and the death of Sibyl, that's when Dorian's persona transitioned from innocence into vice and degradation. Then his face shows indifference with eyes lowered, brows arched, and mouth closed. In a few occurrences when he's angry or determined, Dorian's eyes widen, lips tighten, and nostrils flaring as if he's containing his emotions. Even though these gestures are understated, I'm still baffled that many viewers don't notice them and assumed that the personality of Hatfield's Dorian stayed the same from beginning to end (so NOT true). I guess their attention span goes to George Sanders and Angela Lansbury (who were fantastic), or that I analyzed Hurd Hatfield too excessively because I've seen him in much more dynamic performances.
BOTTOM LINE: Hurd Hatfield was a wonderful actor who was a true professional at his trade. Despite being handicapped by the strict direction of Albert Lewin, he did the best he could with an almost impossible role. And even though Hatfield had a hard time with it and many people may not understand fully, Lewin had legitimate reasons to direct the way he did. In result, the film up to this day is considered a classic and it is the best film adaptation to Oscar Wilde's novel.
If you're interested, here's a recommended list of Hurd Hatfield film/TV appearances that better showcase his broad acting capacity:
http://hurdhatfieldluv.tumblr.com/post/123743795543/top-10-hurd-hatfield-performances-youd-be-amazed
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1) Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Horror Films from the Genre’s Golden Age ( https://books.google.com/books?id=Zyyf9E7OAlkC&pg=PA296&dq=hurd+hatfield&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jdtOVKfTA5WzyATE2IHwBg&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=hurd%20hatfield&f=false )
2) Starlog Magazine Issue 168 ( http://archive.org/stream/starlog_magazine-168/168_djvu.txt )
3) Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury ( http://www.amazon.com/Balancing-Act-Authorized-Biography-Lansbury/dp/0316322253 )
4) “The Picture of Dorian Gray” 1945 Commentary from Bluray/DVD (commentary recorded on 2007/2008).
5) Outre` (from Filmfax) Magazine #9
6) http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/29/movies/hurd-hatfield-80-an-actor-known-for-dorian-gray-role.html
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