Lolita (1962)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Vladimir Nabokov (screenplay)
Vladimir Nabokov (novel)

Release Date:

13 June 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?

Plot:

A middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old nymphet.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Landlady | Lolita | Love | College

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 nominations

Cast

James Mason	...	Prof. Humbert Humbert
Shelley Winters	...	Charlotte Haze
Sue Lyon	...	Lolita
Gary Cockrell	...	Richard T. Schiller
Jerry Stovin	...	John Farlow
Diana Decker	...	Jean Farlow
Lois Maxwell	...	Nurse Mary Lore
Cec Linder	...	Dr. Keegee
Bill Greene	...	George Swine
Shirley Douglas	...	Mrs. Starch
Marianne Stone	...	Vivian Darkbloom
Marion Mathie	...	Miss Lebone
James Dyrenforth	...	Frederick Beale Sr.
Maxine Holden	...	Miss Fromkiss
John Harrison	...	Tom

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #20000) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Norway:16 | France:Unrated | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp (re-rating) | USA:TV-14 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 (re-rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:15 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1999) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Albany, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Since the censors would allow nothing close to a suggestion of pedophilia, Lolita's age had to be increased from 12 in Vladimir Nabokov's original novel to 14 for the film. They also objected to a scene where Humbert Humbert was to gaze at Lolita's picture while in bed with her mother Charlotte; in the end, the scene was filmed with Charlotte lying fully dressed on the bed and Humbert lying beside her wearing a robe.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Humbert comes through the door in the beginning of the movie, he walks by a painting in the hall. Some moments later he is shot through the same painting on the stair case. When Quilty is first shot in the leg, a covered chair is visible at the top of the stairs, it isn't until Humbert reloads and Quilty makes it to the top of the stairs that we see the painting that he hides behind before being shot.

Quotes:

Humbert Humbert: What drives me insane is the twofold nature of this nymphet, of every nymphet perhaps, this mixture in my Lolita of tender, dreamy childishness and a kind of eerie vulgarity. I know it is madness to keep this journal, but it gives me a strange thrill to do so. And only a loving wife could decipher my microscopic script.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Indie Sex: Extremes (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Put Your Dreams Away

Brilliant--not really the book--but still brilliant

What a surreal, dreamlike world Stanley Kubrick creates with this intriguing film! The book, a recognized 20th century classic, is at times disturbing, hysterically funny, uncomfortably erotic, and heartbreakingly sad. The film, made in the 60s, captures many of the same feelings generated by the book--but the censorship

of the time could only allow Kubrick to suggest the more intimate and erotic

aspects of the book--which he slyly succeeds in doing. It is hard to believe now, but when this film was released, it was considered to be unbelievably

provacative and absolutely for adults only.

The movie becomes its own artistic statement---Kubrick doesn't merely try to

recreate the scenes and storyline of the book--although much of it is there--but he uses the period music, speech, clothes and mannerisms to create his own

imaginative and fascinating world. At the same time, we sure do end up caring about the characters. Within the exceptional cast, note the special performance Shelly Winters gives--her character is at once funny and so achingly sad and

pathetic. This is a real tour-de-force of acting. In several instances we go from laughing at her to really disliking her, to feeling so very sorry for her. She creates a truly memorable character.'

The film ranks right up there with all of the spectacfular films Kubrick made during his amazing and very singular career---each of his films was so

distinctive--and Lolita is one of the most distinctive of them all.