Lolita (1962)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

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

Release Date:

12 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 | Nymphet

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	...	Physician
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)
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		(screenplay)
Vladimir Nabokov		(novel "Lolita")
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	....	hairdresser
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)
Terry Parr	....	production buyer (uncredited)
Harry Phipps	....	construction manager (uncredited)
John Siddall	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
A.J. Van Montagu	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Frank Willson	....	chief draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
H.L. Bird	....	sound recordist
Winston Ryder	....	dubbing editor
Len Shilton	....	sound recordist
Keith Batten	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Dan Grimmel	....	sound maintenance (uncredited)
Michael Hickey	....	sound (uncredited)
Jack Lovelace	....	sound maintenance (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)
Wally Thompson	....	electrical gaffer (uncredited)
Jimmy Turrell	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gene Coffin	....	costumes: Miss Winter
Elsa Fennell	....	wardrobe supervisor
Barbara Gillett	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)
Keeley 'Wyn' Ellen Winifred	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)

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

Music Department
Gil Grau	....	orchestrations
Bob Harris	....	composer: 'Lolita' theme
Nelson Riddle	....	conductor

Other crew
Pamela Davies	....	continuity
Joyce Herlihy	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Enid Jones	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Joan Parcell	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Una Pearl	....	double (uncredited)
Jack Smith	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Doreen Wood	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• Seven Arts Productions (in association with)
• A.A. Productions Ltd.
• Anya
• Harris-Kubrick Productions (uncredited)
• Transworld Pictures

Distributors

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

Other Companies

• Chambers & Partners  titles
• Elstree Film & Television Studios  movie studio
• MGM/UA Home Video  VHS package design
• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design

Also Known As:

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French

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:

Peter Sellers modeled the voice of his character Clare Quilty on that of his director, Stanley Kubrick.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): As Humbert and Lolita are leaving Beardsley, they drive through an intersection with a traffic light visible for the intersecting traffic. The light changes from red to green just prior to the car entering the intersection, meaning that they go through the intersection against the light.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Humbert Humbert:Quilty! Quilty?
Clare Quilty:Ah, wha? Who's there?
Humbert Humbert:Are you Quilty.
Clare Quilty:No, I'm... Spartacus. You come to free the slaves or sumpn?
Humbert Humbert:Are you Quilty?
Clare Quilty:Yeah, yeah, I'm Quilty, yeah, sure.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Big Lebowski (1998)

Soundtrack:

There's No You

Cynically romantic

Having read the Nabokov novel and the two well-known versions of the film, I believe the most accurate way of defining the relations is: Lyne´s film is more faithful to the literal reading of the story, Kubrick's one is far more faithful to its spirit and, what is even more important, it isn't drowned by comparisons with the book.

Probably what bothers most people who have seen both films and read the novel is that Kubrick gives ample space to cynicism, farce and mocking of all the main (and even secondary) characters: it ridicules both the cultured, refined and cosmopolitan Englishman and the pseudo-liberal and fairly tacky Americans (the cultural and behavioral differentiation reminding me of Henry James, just in reverse). The child temptress is here seen more realistically as a sexy however vacuous and irritating teenager and Humbert´s love of her as a noble and real but tremendously stupid infatuation (coming from a cold-headed intellectual like him). Also delightful the portrayal of alcoholic and neurotic Shelley Winters, and particularly of Peter Sellers as a mediocre tv writer enhanced by American middle-class culture. There is a lot of witty sociopolitical criticism here.

Adrian Lynne's version, being utterly romantic (and striving really too hard to be poetic) may seem more accurate on the love story but is really Nabokov's intention to tell a love story as such? I can't really appreciate how such wonderful novelist could be so obvious and open to his reader. Not forgetting the romanticism of Humbert's feelings of despair towards the girl, Kubrick doesn't indulge in a simple love story but explores all the most obscure consequences of irrationality and does so with irony and sarcasm (humour is everywhere) but also with a touch of compassionate dramatism when appropriate.

We have a classic here, both faithful to the novel and full of innovations. Lynne´s intent is merely a limp follower of its two (the literary and the filmic) predecessors.