Review: Oscar Wilde and The Happy Prince

I love Oscar Wilde. L-O-V-E him. I cannot sufficiently express my level of affection for that witty Irishman. The Picture of Dorian Gray, his only novel, is on my Top 5 Favorite Books list. It is brilliant, creative and gives the reader some insight into Oscar Wilde himself, since it seems to be at least slightly autobiographical. 

Wilde's innumerable quotes are some of my all time favorites as well. "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken" and "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" are two popular choices. Here are some of my other favorites: 

“You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.”

“Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.”

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”

"True friends stab you in the front."

"Women are made to be loved, not understood."

"If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life."

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”

“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."

“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”

Oscar Wilde statue in Merrion Park, Dublin

My love of Oscar is not limited to his writings, but includes things written about him. There's a great historical fiction series that I discovered about 7 years ago by Gyles Brandreth called the "Oscar Wilde Murder Mystery Series." I was road tripping to Texas and decided to wander around Barnes and Noble to find some good books to stave off boredom when I found "Oscar Wilde and The Vampire Murders." How do you not pick that up?! I ended up buying all the books in the series and after a 5 year hiatus, Brandreth has finally come out with the next installment earlier this month - Jack the Ripper: Case Closed - with another releasing in April - Oscar Wilde and the Return of Jack the Ripper. One of the things I love about the series is that Brandreth keeps it as factual as possible, from knowing what kind of champagne Oscar Wilde drank to when he was spending time with Arthur Conan Doyle & Brams Stoker (dates and locations). At least some of the books were shared with Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde's only grandchild and a renowned expert on all things Wilde, and were revised thanks to his historically based corrections. 

I even named my photography business after him - Wilde Photography! My tagline is (unsurprisingly) one of his quotes: "To look at a thing is very different from seeing it." A moment for a little self promotion - check out my Instagram and Etsy Shop!  

You can imagine my concern when I heard someone was making The Happy Prince, a movie about the end of Oscar Wilde's life. I've never seen Wilde (1998) with Stephen Fry and Jude Law, mostly because I'm afraid it will make me angry with Stephen Fry (big fan!) for his portrayal of Oscar. I assumed I would be similarly put off by whomever was chosen to play Oscar in THP and was pleased to hear that Rupert Everett was not only playing the starring role, but he wrote and directed the movie as well. 

Once I found out Everett was heavily invested in the project, I felt much better. Rupert Everett portrayed Algy in The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) and Lord Arthur Goring in An Ideal Husband (1999) in the movie adaptations and even Oscar himself on stage in "The Judas Kiss" in 2013 and 2016. It also helped that Merlin Holland (Oscar Wilde's grandson) found himself "terribly moved by" The Happy Prince and said Rupert Everett's interpretation probably offered the best portrayal of Oscar Wilde to date. 

It turns out that The Happy Prince was a 10 year labor of love for Rupert Everett. He had been writing the script and trying to find the right director, until he finally decided to make it his directorial debut. As such the movie left a bit to be desired, being slow in parts and offering some confusing time jumps...though who's to say another director would have made better choices in that regard? 

There were definitely things to like about The Happy Prince. Emily Watson was wonderful portraying Constance, Oscar Wilde's wife. She was kind, sad and clearly brokenhearted at Oscar's betrayal and fall. Rupert Everett captured Oscar very well...witty, intelligent, decadent, impulsive, dramatic and lacking in perseverance.

Colin Morgan's Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas was spot on from several accounts I've read. He even captures his physical likeness well. Bosie was clearly not a hero in this story - spoiled, insolent, extravagant and caring for little other than himself. It is speculated that while the likeness of Dorian Gray was based on the poet, John Gray, his disposition was inspired by Bosie. Oddly enough, Bosie ended up becoming Catholic in 1911, though a very poor one. He was extremely anti-Semitic, going so far as accusing Winston Churchill of conspiring with them in the death of Lord Kirchener, for which he was convicted of libel, causing him to spend some time in prison. Amazingly he lived to 74 years old, dying in 1945 from congestive heart failure.

Bosie Douglas, 1903

Colin Morgan as Bosie Douglas.

If I had to pick a tagline for The Happy Prince, it would probably be something along the lines of "The ruination of a tragic man," for while there are moments of levity in The Happy Prince, it really is a tragedy. "I can resist everything except temptation," utilizing one of Oscar's more famous quotes, would also be apropos. 

The movie opens with Oscar telling the story of The Happy Prince to his young sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. That story threads throughout the movie and weaves all the pieces together. 

After Oscar is released from prison, he is "exiled" to France and seeks to facilitate a reconciliation with Constance, whom he misses dearly. When she receives his letter, she is advised not to accept him with open arms (she comments at one point that "I know that if I saw him for but a moment, I would forgive him everything."), which causes her reply to be a bit chilly, telling him they'd have to wait and see if he can lead a scandal-free life. This causes him to dramatically bemoan his situation and claim everyone has abandoned him but Bosie (Colin Morgan), Lord Arthur Douglas...the charming man-boy and son of Marquess of Queensberry, the man who Oscar sued for libel after the Marquess left his calling card at Oscar's club that said "For Oscar Wilde, posing as Somdomite (sic)." 

Oscar's relationship with Bosie is what landed him in prison in the first place. Well...rather his foolish decision to sue the Marquess for leaving the calling card. The Marquess found plenty of evidence to support his claims, causing him to counter-sue, bankrupting Oscar in order to pay for the Marquess' attorneys and private detectives. The Marquess then turned the evidence over to Scotland Yard, which lead to Oscar being charged and convicted of gross indecency. This part was not in the movie (since most of the movie took place post-prison), but is background for those who don't know much about Oscar Wilde. 

Oscar Wilde

Part of the tragedy is that most of what happens is of Oscar's own making. He quickly started to spin out of control, which the story did a good job of showing. He begins his post-prison life (May 1897) trying to live quietly, but his need for attention and to be loved quickly caused him to fall back into his old ways, including meeting up with Bosie again. They eventually "ran away" together and lived in Naples for a few months, starting in August 1897. Oscar died in November of 1900, probably of cerebral meningitis (though it was long speculated it was from syphilis). A tumor or a horribly untreated ear infection are two other speculated causes of death. In The Happy Prince, they don't offer a definitive answer, though they make it clear that he has concerns that it's syphilis. 

Quick sidetrack: while having expressed an interest in joining the Catholic Church several times in his life (one account saying it began in his youth, with his father threatening to disown him if he converted), it wasn't until his deathbed that he became Catholic. Robbie Ross (Edwin Thomas) - a Catholic Canadian journalist who was Oscar's literary executor and devoted friend - dissuaded Oscar post-prison from converting, concerned that it would bring scandal to the Church should he relapse into his former lifestyle. Oscar made him promise to find him a priest before he died, which Robbie did shortly before Oscar's death in 1900.

Several important people in Oscar's life either were Catholic or became Catholic. Robbie Ross, who is assumed to be the first person with whom Oscar had an affair, found Fr. Dunne (Tom Wilkinson) for Oscar when he was dying. Alfred "Bosie" Douglas became Catholic in 1911.  "Aubrey Beardsley, the pre-eminent artist of the English Decadence, who matched Wilde in both scandalous reputation and prodigious talent thanks to the phallic and hermaphroditic drawings with which he illustrated Wilde's Salome," became Catholic and asked that the drawings be destroyed. And lastly, "John Gray, the poet who was the model for Dorian Gray, even became a Catholic priest in Edinburgh." End sidetrack. 😊

Oscar's fascination with the Catholic Church was included in The Happy Prince, but in a somewhat limited manner. There was a touching scene with Oscar in a Catholic Church while he was living in the French countryside (post-prison). He has a conversation with Robbie about what he does with his day, which included walking to a church that "is 10 minutes away and the same amount of time back." He makes a frivolous comment to Robbie that he goes there to see the young and handsome pastor. He is then shown hiking up a hill to the church, where he sits in contemplative silence. Eventually a very aged priest walks in, hobbling along with the aid of two canes. He slowly makes his way up to the altar, kisses it and kneels down before a Crucifix, clearly in love and adoration of his Lord. Oscar narrates over the scene, commenting something about suffering being endurable if there is love. 

The most disappointing part for me was Oscar's deathbed conversion. The portrayal could have been a lot worse - apparently Wilde (1998) chose that part of pontificate - but it could have been better too. The onus of finding Fr. Dunne was put squarely on Robbie's shoulders, never making it clear that Oscar wished for a priest to be sought. And while they make it clear that Oscar was aware of his surroundings sufficiently to give consent to being anointed, there really wasn't much he could have done to stop it either. My assumption is that Rupert Everett's discordant relationship with Catholicism (he's a fallen away Catholic) colored his interpretation of that part of Oscar's life.

Reggie Turner (Colin Firth) and Oscar Wilde (Rupert Everett)

The hypocrasy of Oscar's adoring fans is understandably showcased and is part of his tragedy. There's a scene near the beginning of the film where Oscar is recognized by a woman who used to attend all his openings. She is saddened to see his downfall (he asks her if she can spare five pounds) and walks away in tears when her husband strides up, threatening to kill Oscar if he ever speaks to the wife again. Throughout this there are cuts to scenes of both of them at an opening night of one of his plays, laughing and loudly applauding. Later in the movie Oscar, Robbie and Reggie Turner (Colin Firth) are pursued by a mob of jeering young men, till they seeks refuge in a church. Oscar then confronts them, basically telling them there is nothing left for them to take from him.

While Rupert Everett clearly has a love for Oscar, he did well in not painting him in a better light than he deserves. The movie is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use. Providing cocaine to a likely underage prostitute is not something that improves one's character or reputation. The nudity...male side and behind...is present but not especially graphic. The worst of it was at party in the house Oscar and Bosie shared in Naples, where a game of strip musical chairs was played. Sex is alluded to or talked about, and in one scene you can hear noises/activity coming from another room in a boarding house, but nothing is shown. This was an intentional decision, to avoid being salacious and distracting from the story itself. 

If Oscar Wilde isn't a figure of importance to the viewer, then I could see it not being sufficiently engaging. To invest 1hr 45min in a biopic takes interest in the subject at the best of times and while Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) has gotten some mixed reviews, I can understand it cultivating broader interest. While nearly everyone has heard of Queen (or one of their songs, at the very least), only those with discerning taste can appreciate the wit of this outrageous Irishman. 

“I have simple tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”


~ Katie Q.


Fun Facts:
- Director Rupert Everett had written promises from his friends Colin Firth and Emily Watson that they would participate in this film if he ever got it made. Even when Firth became famous and his busy schedule made it unsure if he would be able to keep his promise, Everett got people to participate by stating that Firth had already signed on.
- When Oscar Wilde gets his hair cut shortly after arriving in Reading Gaol, Rupert Everett gets his actual hair cut until he's bald. This was done on one of the first days of shooting and Everett wore a wig for the rest of the film.
- Principal photography on the film began in mid-September 2016 in Bavaria, Germany. Filming was also done in France, Belgium and Italy.
- Tom Wilkinson previously appeared in Wilde (1997), which covers similar events portrayed in this film. He also played Dr. Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest. 


Rupert Everett read The Ballad of Reading Gaol (a poem Oscar wrote in 1897 about the execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge during his time in prison) in the former chapel of Reading Prison (December 2016).