Lolita
Short description
Stanley Kubrick's Lolita centres on Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged European writer who settles in the small American town of Ramsdale, New Hampshire. He takes a room in the house of the widowed Charlotte Haze and becomes fixated on her teenage daughter, Dolores, known as Lolita. To remain near the girl, he agrees to marry Charlotte, a decision that sets the story on a course marked by deception and obsession. Vladimir Nabokov wrote the screenplay, adapting his own novel, and James B. Harris produced.
James Mason plays Humbert, with Shelley Winters as Charlotte and Sue Lyon as Lolita. Gary Cockrell, Jerry Stovin and Diana Decker appear in supporting roles. The film was released in June 1962 and runs 154 minutes, mixing comedy and crime with drama and romance.
It was the sixth of the thirteen features Kubrick directed, following Spartacus and preceding Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Made for about 2 million dollars, it took roughly 9 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.5 out of 10 from around 116,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.3 from some 2,300 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from 45 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Initially, director Stanley Kubrick suggested Tuesday Weld, age 17, for the role of Lolita, but Nabokov disagreed with this choice. Nabokov was concerned that the action of the book was being moved into the real world; he considered the character of Lolita a fiction. According to the writer, her role should not be played by a teenager, but by a person with a childlike appearance, yet possessing the sophistication of an adult (for example, a dwarf). Kubrick did not agree with this suggestion.
- Kubrick and the film's producer, James B. Harris, chose British actor James Mason for the role of Humbert. Kubrick later offered the role to Laurence Olivier, who declined after consulting with his agents. Kubrick also considered Peter Ustinov, but ultimately decided on Mason.
- Peter Sellers gave his character, Clare Quilty, the voice of Stanley Kubrick.
- Errol Flynn was considered for the role of Humbert Humbert, but he died before the film was shot. Marlon Brando and David Niven were also considered for the role. The part of Humbert Humbert was also offered to Cary Grant, who rejected it with indignation.
- This was the first film that Stanley Kubrick produced independently in England.
- Nabokov's original screenplay differed significantly from the novel, but Kubrick only used a portion of it, although Nabokov was credited. Nabokov later published this as "Lolita: A Screenplay." The rejected screenplay included a cameo appearance for Nabokov as a "peculiar man with a net" (Nabokov was famous for his love of butterflies and moths).
- The Catholic Legion organization demanded that in the scene implying sexual contact between Humbert and Lolita, the seduction be shown only through allusion, without dialogue and not in a bed. The director presented this episode as Lolita’s phrase about a “game” she learned at camp.
- Kubrick wanted Joey Hetherington to play the role of Lolita.
- The film is based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" (Lolita: written in English and published in 1955; a Russian translation of the novel, authored by Nabokov himself, was released in 1967).
- Kubrick struggled to cast the role of Lolita for a long time. In the summer of 1960, at Loretta Young's show, Kubrick noticed 14-year-old Sue Lyon, who had previously worked on television and in commercials for a year. After meeting with Lyon, Kubrick showed her photos to Nabokov, who approved the choice. A seven-year contract was signed with Lyon.
- In the first scene, Quilty says, "I am Spartacus," which is an allusion to another film by Stanley Kubrick, "Spartacus."
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