''Az élet királya'' () is a 1918 Hungarian film directed by

Alfréd Deésy Alfréd Deésy (22 September 1877 – 18 July 1961) was a Hungarian film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 77 films between 1915 and 1947. Deésy also appeared as an actor in 28 films between 1913 and 1960. Biography Deésy was ...

. It is an adaptation of ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is an 1890 philosophical fiction and Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American period ...

'' by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

. The film premiered in Budapest January 21, 1918 and was described as an "almost unprecedented success" in local Budapest press. It received a positive review in ''

Pesti Napló ''Pesti Napló'' () was a Hungarian newspaper published from March 1850 to October 1939. The paper was based in Budapest, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, ...

''.

Plot summary

Cast

Cast adapted from the books ''Lugosi : His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers'' and ''Becoming Dracula: Volume 1''.

Production

''Az élet királya'' was based on

's novel ''

'' (1891). In the film, Norbert Dán plays Dorian Gray while

Bela Lugosi Blaskó Béla Ferenc Dezső (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi ( ; ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (19 ...

portrayed Lord Harry Watton, known in the novel as Lord Henry Wotton.

Release

''Az élet királya'' was previewed at the Uránia in Budapest on October 23, 1917. It was officially released on January 21, 1918, at Budapest's Corso Theater. The film was described as an "almost unprecedented success" in local Budapest press. In some ads, the film was referred to as simple ''Élet királya''. The film was released in Germany as ''Die Spur seiner Sünden''. Outside of Hungary it was also known as ''Dorian Gray Arckepe''. As of 2022, as with nearly all of Lugosi's Hungarian film productions, no copy of the film is known to exist.

Reception

In the Hungarian newspaper ''

'', a critic declared the film "a great psychological drama" and declared it an interesting comparison with the German film '' Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray'' by

Richard Oswald Richard Oswald (5 November 1880 – 11 September 1963) was an Austrian film director, producer, screenwriter, and father of German-American film director Gerd Oswald. Early life and career Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, ...

. Other reviews praised the work of

, who performed in the film under the name Arisztid Olt. A critic in ''Mozihét Kino-Woche'' stated Lugis played Lord Watton "with an artfulness of the highest quality" while another called his acting "most noble."

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Az élet királya 1918 films 1918 drama films Hungarian black-and-white films Hungarian silent feature films Films directed by Alfréd Deésy Films based on The Picture of Dorian Gray Silent Hungarian drama films Lost Hungarian films 1918 lost films Lost drama films