Trivia: Never in Oscar Wilde's story was Dorian Gray invincible, as is depicted in the film. Nor did looking upon his picture kill him. Dorian regularly stood in front of the painting, observing the degradation of his soul. He was only killed when he tried to destroy the picture.
Trivia: Richard Roxborough played Sherlock Holmes in the Hound of the Baskervilles movie. In the LXG movie, Richard Roxborough acted as Moriarty, Holmes's arch enemy.
Trivia: Captain Nemo's chauffeur introduces himself by saying, 'Call me Ishmael.' This is the opening line in Moby Dick. An obvious literary reference.
Trivia: One of the paintings of former Leagues include the Three Musketeers as well as their companion, D'Artagnan.
Trivia: The mask that Richard Roxburgh wore as the Phantom distorted his voice so much that he had to redub his dialogue for the film's release.
Trivia: During a pan shot (I believe it's just before Quatermain's car pulls up at the League's headquarters) near the beginning of the film, a poster can be seen on one of the brick walls with several names on it. The names are those of the creators of the original comics series: Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill, Ben Dimagmaliw and Bill Oakley. (00:20:55)
Trivia: No wonder Quatermain knew of Moriarty - in his cabin on the Nautilus (the scene where he evicts the invisible Skinner) you can see a copy of Strand Magazine, the magazine that first published the exploits of one Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Trivia: When "M" is relating the history of the past LXG to Quatermain, over his shoulder hangs a painting of a previous team. In the foreground you can see the visage of Dr Syn, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh from the book and Disney film of the same name.
Trivia: All of the League are fictional characters from Victorian novels.
Trivia: When we first see 'M' he takes a cigarette from a case that features a picture of a harlequin. This exact same case/image was used in the comic to introduce the character of Campion Bond, M's assistant.
Trivia: Dorian Grey's residence was set up in an old WW2 sugar beet factory. In fact, some fermenting materials were still there, and in order to prevent the stench from flooring cast and crew, the compost had to be covered with chemicals.
Trivia: Nemo being an Indian (both in the original graphic novel and in the movie) was derived from the original version of Jule Verne's Mysterious Island. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, however, Nemo was Polish, and in the course of re-publications over generations (and in previous movies), Nemo was turned into a European.
Trivia: Originally, it was intended that the part of Campion Bond was to be played by Roger Moore - both to have two ex-Bonds in one movie, and as an obvious pun to the character's name. But the idea was eventually dropped.
Trivia: Never in Robert Louis Stevenson's original short story was Mr Hyde larger than Dr Jekyll. He was considerably shorter and therefore Jekyll's clothes hung loosely from him. Also, Jekyll never needed a potion to become Hyde after the first time. The change became involuntary and ever more frequent. Hyde needed the potion to *change back* to Jekyll.
Trivia: In the scene where M indroduces Quatermain to the League there are numerous pictures of previous leagues. One appeared in the comic and features Dr. Syn, Lemuel Gullivar (From Gullivar's Travels) and the Scarlet Pimpernel. Another painting includes Robin Hood.
Trivia: Some of the film's complicated photography required Townsend to shoot a scene backwards. He said,"It's a very quick clip where I steal Jekyll's vial. Basically, they wanted to end the shot with the hand on the vial. And because they have to be so specific, it's such a fast speed shot and it just stops exactly, I couldn't do it normally. I had to walk into the room backwards and then go all the way back and pick up the vial backwards so that the camera could actually focus on that one. That was strange."
Trivia: Sean Connery never appeared in another live action film following this one. The stress he experienced making it is what led him to retire from acting until his death in 2020, with the only exception being a voice role for an animated film in 2012 called Sir Billi. He strongly considered coming out of retirement for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but ultimately declined, as he found retirement to be a lot of fun.
Trivia: When Dorian Gray shoots and kills Ishmael, he shoots Ishmael with a golden gun, perhaps a little nod to the James Bond villain Scaramanga.
Trivia: Director Stephen Norrington had such a negative experience working on this film that he retired from directing and semi-retired from the industry as a whole, refusing to helm another major motion picture. True to his word, in the fifteen years that have passed since the release of "LXG," Norrington has not directed another film, and has only worked on five other credited projects (mainly short films and low-budget features), and even then, only in the effects departments as a sculptor and digital artist.
Answer: In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian has a painting that reflects himself. But while the painting grows older, Dorian remains young - the opposite of real life. In the movie, another benefit of this was that Dorian remained impervious to harm while the painting was preserved. When he finally looks at it, the pattern reverses and his body finally reflects the reality depicted by the painting, causing him to age past his own death very quickly. The other characters are from Dracula (Mina Harker), King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain), The Invisible Man (Skinner, in concept if not in person), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tom Sawyer), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde). Some other characters also reflect classic literature, but these are the primaries.
Phoenix