Lolita (1962)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Vladimir Nabokov (novel)
Vladimir Nabokov (screenplay)
(more)

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 | Love | Landlady | Lolita | College

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 14

3:30 PM

TCM

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
Colin Maitland	...	Charlie Sedgewick
Terry Kilburn	...	Man (as Terence Kilburn)
C. Denier Warren	...	Potts
Roland Brand	...	Bill Crest
Peter Sellers	...	Clare Quilty
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Irvin Allen	...	Hospital attendant (uncredited)
Beverly Bennett	...	Friend (uncredited)
Ed Bishop	...	Ambulance attendant (uncredited)
Angela Bradley	...	Friend (uncredited)
Jean Carnt	...	Teenager (uncredited)
Jean Collins	...	Teenager (uncredited)
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Frankenstein (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jennifer Dodd	...	Dark-haired Teenager (uncredited)
Anne Flack	...	Friend (uncredited)
Susanne Gibbs	...	Mona Farlow (uncredited)
Jacqueline Harris	...	Teenager (uncredited)
Loraine Hart	...	Cute girl (uncredited)
Gloria Johnson	...	Friend (uncredited)
Jenny Jones	...	Friend (uncredited)
Lilian Keeton	...	French / Spanish girl (uncredited)
Eric Lane	...	Roy (uncredited)
Linda Lawrence	...	Teenager (uncredited)
Christopher Lee	...	Frankenstein's Creature (archive footage) (uncredited)
Isabelle Lucas	...	Louise (uncredited)
Coral Morphew	...	Friend (uncredited)
Jeanette Neale	...	Girl (uncredited)
Maria Nicholas	...	Dark Girl (uncredited)
Robert C. Overton	...	Kenny Oberton (uncredited)
Sonya Petrie	...	Blonde girl (uncredited)
Jacqueline Poole	...	Teenager (uncredited)
Craig Sams	...	Rex (uncredited)
Roberta Shore	...	Lorna (uncredited)
Marti Webb	...	Friend (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Vladimir Nabokov		(novel "Lolita")
Vladimir Nabokov		(screenplay)
Stanley Kubrick		uncredited

Produced by
James B. Harris	....	producer
Eliot Hyman	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Nelson Riddle

Cinematography by
Oswald Morris		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Anthony Harvey

Casting by
James Liggat

Art Direction by
William C. Andrews		(as Bill Andrews)

Makeup Department
Betty Glasow	....	hair stylist
George Partleton	....	makeup artist
Stella Morris	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Raymond Anzarut	....	production supervisor
Robert Sterne	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
René Dupont	....	assistant director (as Rene Dupont)
Dennis Stock	....	second unit director
John Danischewsky	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Roy Millichip	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Syd Cain	....	associate art director (as Sidney Cain)
Roy Dorman	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Peter James	....	set designer (uncredited)
Andrew Low	....	set designer (uncredited)
A.J. Van Montagu	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
H.L. Bird	....	sound recordist
Winston Ryder	....	dubbing editor
Len Shilton	....	sound recordist
Keith Batten	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Michael Hickey	....	sound (uncredited)
Don Wortham	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Denys N. Coop	....	camera operator
Joe Pearce	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bert Stern	....	publicity photographer (uncredited)
Jimmy Turrell	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gene Coffin	....	costume designer: Miss Winter
Elsa Fennell	....	wardrobe supervisor
Barbara Gillett	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Lois Gray	....	assistant editor
John Crome	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Nelson Riddle	....	conductor

Other crew
Pamela Davies	....	continuity
Joyce Herlihy	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Enid Jones	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Una Pearl	....	double (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A.A. Productions Ltd.
• Anya
• Harris-Kubrick Productions (uncredited)
• Seven Arts Productions
• Transworld Pictures

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Oy Fox Films (1962) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Bros. (2001) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (????) (Italy) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. (????) (Italy) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Chambers & Partners  titles

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) | 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:

A.A. Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Although he generally admired the movie adaptation of his book Vladimir Nabokov regretted the waste of his time in writing a screenplay which was altered so drastically during filming.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Humbert Humbert and Dolores race to escape the car that HH believes has been tailing them for three days, their own car sustains a puncture (blowout) and HH has to slew the car to a halt. The low camera angle at the front of the vehicle, however, shows all four tyres fully inflated and all four corners of the car riding at normal height above the road surface.

Quotes:

Charlotte Haze: Hum, you just touch me and I... I... I go as limp as a noodle. It scares me.
Humbert Humbert: Yes, I know the feeling.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Look (2007)

Soundtrack:

There's No You

Whispering, Loudly

A riveting transposition from page to screen. The accomplices are two giants in both fields. Nabokov adapts his own infamous novel for the screen and Kubrick, no less, translates it into images in a way that makes it unique, unforgettable and transcendental without ever putting himself in front of the camera. A Kubrick film can't be recognized by its style. Kubrick never made two films alike but there is something that, unquestionable, makes them stand out. In "Lolita"'s case the mere idea of touching the controversial novel with its taboo subject at its very core seem like a provocation from the word go. Pornography for the thinking man in which the only explicit act is the intention written in the character's eyes. Nothing is excessive and nothing is pulled back. James Mason - villain or victim - is monumental, mo-nu-men-tal! The unspeakable truth never leaves his brow. He is the most civilized man trapped in the lowest echelon of his own psyche. So aware, that it is painful to watch. Shelley Winters goes for it, taking her Mrs Hayes for all its worth and dives into the void of a desperate housewife, craving for sex. It is one of the most entertaining, shattering human spectacles, I've ever seen. But unlike Mason, she's not aware of it. There is a horrible innocence attached to her sickness. Peter Sellers's character from hell, the torturer comes in three riveting characterizations and Sue Lyon's temptress, the child, is the devil incarnate in a performance that defies description. None of them were nominated for Oscars and the film was condemned by every moral group in America and beyond. As film experiences go, this is one of the most provocative, enthralling, disgusting, entertaining and satisfying I've ever been through. Yep, I really mean that.