In his review of the film , Bosley Crowther wrote : " Mr. Wilde himself could not have expected his rare personality or his unfortunate encounters with British justice on a morals charge to have been more sympathetically or affectingly dramatized . In comparison to that other British picture about the same subject that opened in New York City last week , this one is more impressive in every respect , save one . " Crowther concludes the review saying " The only thing is you wonder if this is a fairly true account , if Mr. Wilde was as noble and heroic as he is made to appear . And if he was , what was he doing with those cheap and shady young men ? It looks to us as if they are trying to whitewash a most unpleasant case , which is one of the more notorious and less ennobling in literary history . " '' Variety '' magazine , commenting on the performances , said " Peter Finch gives a moving and subtle performance as the ill-starred playwright . Before his downfall he gives the man the charm that he undoubtedly had .... John Fraser as handsome young Lord Alfred Douglas is suitably vain , selfish , vindictive and petulant and the relationship between the two is more understandable . Where '' Trials '' suffers in comparison with the B&W film is in the remarkable impact of the libel case court sequence . James Mason never provides the strength and bitter logic necessary for the dramatic cut-and-thrust when Wilde is in the witness box . " The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film . Peter Finch won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the film also received four other BAFTA nominations including Best British Film , Best Film from any source and for John Fraser as Best British Actor . Peter Finch ( tied with Bambang Hermanto ) also received the Best Actor Award at the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival
2nd Moscow International Film Festival
2nd Moscow International Film Festival
The Trials of Oscar Wilde