The Trials of Oscar Wilde

London in the 1890s. The Marquess of Queensberry is disturbed by the closeness between his son Bosie and the writer Oscar Wilde and goes after Wilde openly. Wilde sues for libel; the case turns against him quickly. After that he is tried himself, this time as the accused. It takes a few months for a famous writer to go from being applauded on his feet to the dock. Ken Hughes's film came out in 1960; another film about Wilde was made the same year and the two reached cinemas days apart. Peter Finch won a BAFTA as Wilde; James Mason plays the opposing counsel. In those years homosexuality was still a crime in England, and the film drew attention for taking the subject on directly. The telling makes Wilde neither a saint nor a victim.