Barry Lyndon (1975)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (written for the screen by)
William Makepeace Thackeray (novel)

Release Date:

18 December 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

At long last Redmond Barry became a gentleman -- and that was his tragedy.

Plot:

An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's position in 18th Century aristocracy.

Plot Keywords:

British Army | Irish | Seven Years War | Prussian Army | England

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Ryan O'Neal	...	Barry Lyndon / Redmond Barry
Marisa Berenson	...	Lady Honoria Lyndon
Patrick Magee	...	Chevalier de Balibari
Hardy Krüger	...	Captain Potzdorf (as Hardy Kruger)
Steven Berkoff	...	Lord Ludd
Gay Hamilton	...	Nora Brady
Marie Kean	...	Barry's Mother
Diana Körner	...	Lischen (as Diana Koerner)
Murray Melvin	...	Reverend Samuel Runt
Frank Middlemass	...	Sir Charles Lyndon
André Morell	...	Lord Gustavus Adolphus Wendover (as Andre Morell)
Arthur O'Sullivan	...	Captain Feeny, the Highwayman
Godfrey Quigley	...	Captain Grogan
Leonard Rossiter	...	Captain John Quin
Philip Stone	...	Graham
Leon Vitali	...	Lord Bullingdon
John Bindon	...	Recruiting soldier
Roger Booth	...	King George III
Billy Boyle	...	Seamus Feeny
Jonathan Cecil	...	Lt. Jonathan Fakenham
Peter Cellier	...	Sir Richard
Geoffrey Chater	...	Dr. Broughton
Anthony Dawes	...	British Soldier
Patrick Dawson
Bernard Hepton
Anthony Herrick
Barry Jackson	...	British Soldier
Wolf Kahler	...	Prince of Tübingen
Pat Laffan		(as Patrick Laffan)
Hans Meyer
Ferdy Mayne	...	Colonel Bulow
David Morley	...	Bryan Patrick Lyndon
Liam Redmond
Pat Roach	...	Toole - Soldier in Fistfight
Dominic Savage	...	Young Bullingdon
Frederick Schiller
George Sewell	...	Barry's Second
Anthony Sharp	...	Lord Hallam
John Sharp	...	Doolan
Roy Spencer	...	Horse Seller
John Sullivan
Harry Towb	...	Innkeeper
Michael Hordern	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Norman Gay	...	Tailor (uncredited)
Vivian Kubrick	...	Magic Show Spectator (uncredited)
Gary Taylor	...	Barry's Fight Second (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Stanley Kubrick		(written for the screen by)
William Makepeace Thackeray		(novel "The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.")

Produced by
Jan Harlan	....	executive producer
Stanley Kubrick	....	producer
Bernard Williams	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
John Alcott		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Tony Lawson

Casting by
James Liggat

Production Design by
Ken Adam

Art Direction by
Roy Walker

Costume Design by
Milena Canonero
Ulla-Britt Söderlund		(as Ulla-Britt Søderlund)

Makeup Department
Alan Boyle	....	makeup artist
Ann Brodie	....	makeup artist
Jill Carpenter	....	makeup artist
Yvonne Coppard	....	makeup artist
Barbara Daly	....	makeup artist
Susie Hill	....	hair stylist
Joyce James	....	hair stylist
Leonard	....	hair stylist
Leonard	....	wig maker
Maude Onslow	....	hair stylist (as Maud Onslow)
Daphne Vollmer	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Malcolm J. Christopher	....	unit manager (as Malcolm Christopher)
Terence A. Clegg	....	production manager (as Terence Clegg)
Don Geraghty	....	unit manager
Rudolf Hertzog	....	production manager: Germany
Douglas Twiddy	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brian W. Cook	....	assistant director (as Brian Cook)
Michael Stevenson	....	assistant director
David Tomblin	....	assistant director
Andy Armstrong	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bill Beecham	....	painter
Bill Brodie	....	assistant art director
Richard Dicker	....	drapesman
Vernon Dixon	....	set dresser
Ken Dolbear	....	property buyer
Mike Fowlie	....	property master
Joe Lee	....	construction manager
Cleo Nethersole	....	drapesman
Jan Schlubach	....	art director: Germany
Chris Seddon	....	drapesman
Terry Wells	....	property man
Cos Egan	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Barry Wilkinson	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
George Akers	....	assistant sound editor
Robin Gregory	....	sound recordist
Rodney Holland	....	sound editor
Bill Rowe	....	dubbing mixer
Michael Hickey	....	sound (uncredited)

Stunts
Roy Scammell	....	stunt arranger

Camera and Electrical Department
Lou Bogue	....	gaffer
Paddy Carey	....	camera operator: second unit
Tony Cridlin	....	camera grip
Ed Di Giulio	....	special cinematographer
Laurie Frost	....	assistant camera
Dodo Humphreys	....	assistant camera
Douglas Milsome	....	focus puller
Mike Molloy	....	camera operator
Luke Quigley	....	camera grip
Larry Smith	....	chief electrician
Ronnie Taylor	....	camera operator
Keith Hamshere	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Micky Wilson	....	electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gloria Barnes	....	wardrobe assistant
Ron Beck	....	wardrobe supervisor
Gary Dahms	....	costume maker
Yvonne Dahms	....	costume maker
Norman Dickens	....	wardrobe assistant
Jack Edwards	....	costume maker
Judy Lloyd-Rogers	....	costume maker
Willy Rothery	....	costume maker
Colin Wilson	....	wardrobe assistant
Francis Wilson	....	hats

Editorial Department
Dave Dowler	....	color grader
Peter Krook	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Leonard Rosenman	....	conductor
Leonard Rosenman	....	music adaptor

Other crew
Margaret Adams	....	secretary to producer
Bob Anderson	....	fencing coach
Bill Aylmore	....	armorer
Ron Bareham	....	assistant accountant
David Berglas	....	advisor: gambling
Andros Epaminondas	....	assistant to producer
Carolyn Hall	....	assistant accountant
John Mollo	....	historical advisor
Arthur Morgan	....	location liaison
George Mossman	....	horse master
Peter Munt	....	wrangler
William O'Kelly	....	location liaison (as Col. William O'Kelly)
Loretta Ordewer	....	production secretary
Pat Pennelegion	....	production secretary
June Randall	....	continuity
Geraldine Stephenson	....	choreographer
John Trehy	....	production accountant

Production Companies

• Peregrine
• Hawk Films
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1976) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. (????) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Warner Bros. (2001) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Canada) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Corsham Court  special acknowledgment
• Somerset Rural Life Museum  special acknowledgment (as Glastonbury Rural Life Museum)
• National Trust Stourhead Gardens  special acknowledgment (as Stourhead House and the National Trust)
• Castle Howard  special acknowledgment
• Dolby Laboratories  special sound assistance

Also Known As:

Runtime:

184 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Spain:18 | Finland:K-16 (1976) | Sweden:15 | France:Unrated | Brazil:12 | Canada:14A (video rating) | New Zealand:PG | Norway:16 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | West Germany:12 | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Royal Victoria Park, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

Peregrine

Trivia:

Even though Marisa Berenson played Leon Vitali's mother in the film, she was only about a year older than him.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Barry and Bullingdon fight, there is a map of the world in the background, with a decorative picture of a steam train on it. The film was set in the 18th century, but the steam train was not invented until the beginning of the 19th century.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[two figures visible on the horizon prepare to duel. Three witnesses stand between them]
Second:Gentlemen, cock your pistols! Gentlemen...
Narrator:Barry's father...
Second:...aim your pistols!
Narrator:...had been bred, like many other young sons of a genteel family, to the profession of the law.
Second:One!
Narrator:And there is no doubt he would've...
Second:Two!
Narrator:...made an eminent figure in his profession...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sarabande

I can't believe that there are people who find this dull.

In fact it's one of Kubrick's most gripping pictures, with a narrative drive second only to that of "Dr. Strangelove" (and it's unquestionably a more glorious creation than, say, anything he made in the 1950s). English director Michael Powell (while attributing a similar failing to one of his own works) says that Kubrick fell into "the trap of the picturesque", but while I admire Powell as a creator, the judgment is absurd: at the VERY least, each lush image shows us people not just occupying a part of the screen but inhabiting a world, and tells us much about their relation to that world. Many shots are indeed amazing and beguile the eye, but they don't have the effect they do simply because they would make nice postcards.

THIS, I feel sure (without having read Thackeray), is the proper way to adapt a long story from novel to screen. Each scene is either allowed as much time as it needs to make its point and its impact, or it's cut altogether - you won't catch Kubrick skating too quickly over his material for no better reason than to fit it all in. The third-person narration (consisting of witty, beautifully crafted sentences - it's about time I did read Thackeray) almost performs a kind of dance with the images, gliding in just when we need it, taking a step back when we don't. (So rarely is even third-person narration used so well.) And as always, Kubrick's musical sense is unerring. My impression at the time was that I was listening to mid-eighteenth century music that gave way to pieces from the classical era as the hero started to move in higher and higher circles. I was more or less right. But then I noticed Schubert's name in the credits - and I realised with a start that I'd been listening to, had even started tapping my feet to, a Schubert piece I was familiar with, without the anachronism registering.

It's a pity Kubrick stopped making epics after this. Look at the ones he's responsible for: "Spartacus" (not a project Kubrick was fond of, admittedly, but still the most magnificent of all Roman epics) "2001" (the most magnificent of ALL epics), and "Barry Lyndon". The last of the three is by no means a poor cousin.