Stanley Kubrick's All Time Favorite Films
Here I have compiled a list in which only credible sources have designated these as some of Stanley Kubrick's all time favorite films.
Since Stanley is the most widely celebrated American director in history, I thought many others may appreciate a look at some of his favorites. This list itself is quite obviously in completely random order, and is not any sort of official list. However all selections do have credible voices behind them, many from Stanley himself.
In 1987 Stanley mentioned being starstruck by the films of Stroheim, D.W. Griffith and Eisenstein as a young man. "I was starstruck by these fantastic movies." Not in the sense of going to Hollywood and making a lot of money he stated, but purely because of these people's work he "Really was in love with movies."
Kubrick mentioned many times over his career a love for Max Ophüls films. Ophüls, Fellini and Bergman were commonly mentioned as Kubrick's favorite directors. He also loved Chaplin films, but not for the direction, rather for the stories themselves. He also mentioned Kazan on a few occasions as one of the best American directors, as well as publicly expressing his love of both Vittorio De Sica and Luis Buñuel more than a few times over the years. David Lean was another he mentioned in public more than once. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
I'll leave you with this quote from Kubrick himself, though it does date back to fairly early in his career, “There are very few directors about whom you’d say you automatically have to see everything they do. I’d put Fellini, Bergman and David Lean at the head of my first list, and Truffaut at the head of the next level.”
Since Stanley is the most widely celebrated American director in history, I thought many others may appreciate a look at some of his favorites. This list itself is quite obviously in completely random order, and is not any sort of official list. However all selections do have credible voices behind them, many from Stanley himself.
In 1987 Stanley mentioned being starstruck by the films of Stroheim, D.W. Griffith and Eisenstein as a young man. "I was starstruck by these fantastic movies." Not in the sense of going to Hollywood and making a lot of money he stated, but purely because of these people's work he "Really was in love with movies."
Kubrick mentioned many times over his career a love for Max Ophüls films. Ophüls, Fellini and Bergman were commonly mentioned as Kubrick's favorite directors. He also loved Chaplin films, but not for the direction, rather for the stories themselves. He also mentioned Kazan on a few occasions as one of the best American directors, as well as publicly expressing his love of both Vittorio De Sica and Luis Buñuel more than a few times over the years. David Lean was another he mentioned in public more than once. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
I'll leave you with this quote from Kubrick himself, though it does date back to fairly early in his career, “There are very few directors about whom you’d say you automatically have to see everything they do. I’d put Fellini, Bergman and David Lean at the head of my first list, and Truffaut at the head of the next level.”
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- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAlberto SordiFranco FabriziFranco InterlenghiA character study of five young men at crucial turning points in their lives in a small town in Italy.In 1963 Stanley listed this Fellini picture as his favorite all time film.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.Stanley's fondness of The Godfather is fairly well documented. Funny enough Coppola himself wrote the screenplay for the film using Kubrick's The Killing as his template so to speak. He tried to write the film using "The Killing's writing style of completely grey characters." Coppola noted.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.Kubrick: “All films are, in a sense, false documentaries. One tries to approach reality as much as possible, only it’s not reality. There are people who do very clever things, which have completely fascinated and fooled me. For example, The Battle of Algiers. It’s very impressive.”
— interviewed by Renaud Walter in Positif
Anthony Frewin: “Stanley raved (or what passed as raving with him!) about The Battle of Algiers, and Wajda’s Danton, over a lengthy period of time. When I started work for Stanley in September 1965 he told me that I couldn’t really understand what cinema was capable of without seeing The Battle of Algiers. He was still enthusing about it prior to his death.” - DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsGérard DepardieuWojciech PszoniakAnne AlvaroIn 1793, as the Terror begins in France, Georges Danton, a champion-of-the-people, returns to clash against Maximilien Robespierre and his extremist party.Also see above.
According to Stanley's long time personal assistant Anthony Frewin: “Stanley thought Danton was very nearly beyond criticism and ‘perhaps the finest historical film ever made’. He loved everything about it and said he would never tire of watching the scenes with Gérard Depardieu and Wojciech Pszoniak (‘I’d love to use that Polish actor in something’).” - DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.As of 1963 Stanley listed this film as his fourth all time favorite.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.A well documented favorite of Stanley's. Kubrick set out to create a similar feeling of psychological isolation and intensity in his horror masterpiece, The Shining.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.In 1963 Kubrick listed this Bergman effort as his second all time favorite film.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJean GabinDanielle DarrieuxSimone SimonThree separate stories about the same thing: le plaisir (pleasure).A well documented favorite from one of Stanley's biggest influences, Max Ophüls.
- StarsArtur BarcisOlgierd LukaszewiczOlaf LubaszenkoTen television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.Stanley went so far as to even write about this mini-series inspired by the Ten Commandments of the Hebrew Bible.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Well documented favorite of Kubrick's.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinVirginia CherrillFlorence LeeWith the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.Kubrick's favorite Chaplin film. Stanley listed it sometimes as high as 5th out of his all time favorite films.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJames CagneyJean HarlowEdward WoodsAn Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.Stanley noted this as one of his favorite films from his childhood.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it."All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", Another well documented favorite of Stanley's.
- StarsMarita BreuerRüdiger WeigangKurt WagnerThe village of Schabbach experiences the shifting fortunes of Germany from 1919 to 1982.According to Stanley's right-hand man Jan Harlan: “Stanley was completely taken by Heimat. The idea of telling such an ‘impossible to tell story’ through the eyes of a bunch of simple villagers he considered completely new and brilliant. To show ‘heaven’ convincingly and without special effects on the top floor of a country inn and have the dead people observe ‘us’ – he was deeply moved. There are a number of other scenes like that. He was so taken by it that he hired the art director and costume designer for preparation of Wartime Lies (Aryan Papers). There are some specific scenes we saw together again and again (having videotaped the BBC2 broadcast) and I remember it all very well.”
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsGinger RogersAdolphe MenjouGeorge MontgomeryRoxie Hart signs a murder confession in order to attract publicity for her dancing career as dames don't swing in Cook County. Will everything go as planned?Appeared on his top 10 list of favorite films circa 1963.
- DirectorEdward F. ClineStarsW.C. FieldsCora WitherspoonUna MerkelHenpecked Egbert Sousé has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.Kubrick listed this as one of his favorites in the early 1960's.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJeanne MoreauMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiA day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.Well documented favorite of Stanley's.
- DirectorClaudia WeillStarsMelanie MayronEli WallachAdam CohenA photographer and her girlfriend are roommates. She is stuck with small-change shooting jobs and dreams of success. When her roommate decides to get married and leave, she feels hurt and has to learn how to deal with living alone.Mentioned how he was impressed by this directorial effort in the early 1980's.
- DirectorHoward HughesEdmund GouldingJames WhaleStarsBen LyonJames HallJean HarlowBrothers Monte and Ray leave Oxford to join the Royal Flying Corps. Ray loves Helen; Helen enjoys an affair with Monte; before they leave on their mission over Germany they find her in still another man's arms.In 1963 Stanley listed the Hughes classic as his 10th favorite film of all time.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsAnton WalbrookSimone SignoretSerge ReggianiSoldiers, chambermaids, poets, prostitutes, aristocrats-all are on equal footing in this multi-character merry-go-round of love and infidelity.According to many close to Stanley, one of his favorite films from one of his biggest inspirational influences, Max Ophüls. "La Ronde, yes – he was a real Arthur Schnitzler fan." According to Jan Harlan.
- DirectorJirí MenzelStarsVáclav NeckárJosef SomrVlastimil BrodskýAn apprentice train dispatcher at a village station seeks his first sexual encounter and becomes despondent when he is unable to perform.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherTwo American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJan VostrcilJosef SebánekJosef ValnohaA volunteer fire department throws a party for their former boss with the whole town invited, but nothing goes as planned.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorVíctor EriceStarsFernando Fernán GómezTeresa GimperaAna TorrentIn 1940, after watching and being traumatized by the movie Frankenstein (1931), a sensitive seven year-old girl living in a small Spanish village drifts into her own fantasy world.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorJean CocteauRené ClémentStarsJean MaraisJosette DayMila ParélyA beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn CazalePenelope AllenThree amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsAlison SteadmanTim SternJanine DuvitskiArguably the most famous edition of Play For Today, and one of the most beloved, as Mike Leigh directs a comedy of manners. Middle-class suburbia gets to reveal its darker side over the course of an increasingly uncomfortable drinks party.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.According to Stanley's daughter Katharina Kubrick-Hobbs.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsCharles BoyerDanielle DarrieuxVittorio De SicaWhen an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.Another of Stanley's favorite's from Max Ophüls according to close sources. "Stanley loved it" According to Jan Harlan.
- DirectorAlf SjöbergStarsAnita BjörkUlf PalmeMärta DorffAn heiress begins to realize her attraction to one of her family's servants.“I have a very vivid memory of Miss Julie, which was directed in an extremely remarkable fashion.” - Stated by Kubrick in the late 50's.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsDaniel GélinAnne VernonElina LabourdetteEdouard is a pianist, married with Caroline. This evening, they are invited to Claude's. Claude is the snobbish uncle of Caroline, his son Alain (as snobbish as his father) is in love with Caroline. They spite Edouard a little because he's poor. At the party, Edouard must play the piano to make himself known by Claude's important acquaintances. But just before leaving, Edouard and Caroline quarrel about clothes, and Edouard goes alone..."Édouard et Caroline is a ravishing thing" - Kubrick defended Jacques Becker's reputation for making minor films in a late 50's interview.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsSimone SignoretSerge ReggianiClaude DauphinThree gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque France."An excellent dramatic film which I've seen many times" - Stanley Kubrick in 1957
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAnthony QuinnGiulietta MasinaRichard BasehartA care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.In 1957 after seeing La Strada Stanley praised Fellini as "the most interesting poetic personality of the Italian cinema." In later years Stanley declared Fellini as one the very best film-makers in history.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsUlla JacobssonEva DahlbeckHarriet AnderssonIn Sweden at the turn of the century, members of the upper class and their servants find themselves in a romantic tangle that they try to work out amidst jealousy and heartbreak.“The filmmaker I admire the most after Max Ophuls is without a doubt Ingmar Bergman, whose every film I’ve seen. I like enormously Smiles of a Summer Night” - Kubrick stated in a 1957 interview.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsRoger DuchesneIsabelle CoreyDaniel CauchyAfter losing big, an aging gambler decides to assemble a team to rob a casino.“The perfect crime film” - Stanley Kubrick
- DirectorJean MitryAn engine moves from the roundhouse to a track where it couples with several passenger cars. At 2:10 in the afternoon, it starts a trip out of the station through the countryside to its destination. The film consists of a montage of shots, some close up, of the engine and its gears and wheels. With the accompanying ambient sounds and an orchestral score, the emphasis is on the engine's power and speed. Parallel lines of multiple tracks, telephone wires, and trees confirm a careful composition."Stanley said Pacific 231 was one of the most perfectly edited, if not the most perfectly edited films, he had ever seen. Not only that but also the way Mitry melded the cutting with Honegger’s music. He thought it was a knockout." According to Stanley's personal assistant of over 20 years, Anthony Frewin.
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsFrançoise RosayAndré AlermeJean MuratTells the story of the Spanish invasion of FlandersIn the late 60's Stanley referred to La Kermesse Héroïque as "A very nice film".
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.According to Kubrick's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man Jan Harlan, this film is "a must" when talking about Stanley's all time favorites.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsVictor SjöströmHilda BorgströmTore SvennbergOn New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him."Stanley thought Kurosawa was one of the great film directors and followed him closely." According to Anthony Ferwin, Kubrick's personal assistant of over 20 years. Ferwin lists this film as one that Kubrick would have wanted if he were stranded on a deserted island and could only take a few films.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.Another film on Ferwin's list of Kubrick's deserted island must haves. Also according to Ferwin, "Stanley received a fan letter from Kurosawa in the late 1990s and was so touched by it. It meant more to him than any Oscar would."
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMinoru ChiakiIsuzu YamadaA war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.According to Ferwin, this is another Kurosawa film among Stanley's all time faves.
- DirectorArthur LipsettThrough an unconventional use of concise narrative, a conceptual collage of sounds and images, and a rapid-fire montage, Arthur Lipsett's first film vividly portrays the urban estrangement in the times of social erosion and materialism.Kubrick reportedly asked Arthur Lipsett to create a trailer for Dr. Strangelove, but he declined. The designer of the film’s opening titles, Pablo Ferro, eventually cut the finished trailer and it is very much in the style of Lipsett’s work in Very Nice, Very Nice.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsJulie AndrewsDick Van DykeDavid TomlinsonIn turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.Kubrick: “I saw Mary Poppins three times, because of my children, and I like Julie Andrews so much that I enjoyed seeing it three times. I thought it was a charming film. I wouldn’t want to make it, but…"
“Children’s films are an area that should not just be left to the Disney Studios, who I don’t think really make very good children’s films. I’m talking about his cartoon features, which always seemed to me to have shocking and brutal elements in them that really upset children. I could never understand why they were thought to be so suitable. When Bambi’s mother dies this has got to be one of the most traumatic experiences a five-year-old could encounter.
“I think that there should be censorship for children on films of violence. I mean, if I didn’t know what Psycho was, and my children went to see it when they were six or seven, thinking they were going to see a mystery story, I would have been very angry, and I think they’d have been terribly upset. I don’t see how this would interfere with freedom of artistic expression. If films are overly violent or shocking, children under 12 should not be allowed to see them. I think that would be a very useful form of censorship.” - from a 1968 interview a few days after the opening of 2001. - DirectorPierre SchoendoerfferStarsJoseph B. AndersonStuart WhitmanThe director, a French veteran of the Indochina war (La 317e Section), returned to follow a platoon of American soldiers for six weeks at the height of fighting in Vietnam in 1966. The documentary discusses the background and fate of the soldiers and emphasizes how much American culture pervades the soldiers' behaviors in the midst of jungle life and fighting.Kubrick: “I like to see documentaries. I very much liked La section Anderson, that film made by a Frenchman about an American platoon. I thought it was a terrific film. But personally I wouldn’t be interested in making something like that.”
— interviewed by Renaud Walter in Positif
Frewin: “Stanley had a high regard for Pierre Schoendoerffer. He watched La Section Anderson prior to Full Metal Jacket, and La 317ème Section (1964), and not only that but also Diên Biên Phú (1992) which Pierre sent over at Stanley’s request after I had tracked him down. They had a couple of conversations.” - DirectorCarlos SauraStarsGeraldine ChaplinJosé Luis López VázquezAlfredo MayoJulian, a middle-aged single doctor, meets his childhood friend Pablo again. The latter is back from Africa and has just married a beautiful young blonde, Elena. Julian falls in love with her and tries to seduce her, but she mockingly pushes him away from her. He then finds that Ana, his nurse, bears a troubling resemblance to Elena. He decides to gradually transform Ana into Elena...Kubrick, discussing Spanish cinema in 1980:
“I first encountered Saura’s work by chance and in a rather strange way one day when I got home quite late and turned on the television; a film in Spanish with subtitles, that I knew absolutely nothing about, and besides, I’d missed the first half hour. It was hard for me to follow and understand but, at the same time, I was convinced it was the film of a great director.
“I watched the rest of the film glued to the TV set and when it was over I picked up a newspaper and saw that it was Peppermint Frappé by Carlos Saura. Later I found a copy of the film, which of course I watched from the beginning and with great enthusiasm, and since then all of Saura’s films that I’ve seen have confirmed the high quality of his work. He is an extremely brilliant director, and what strikes me in particular is the marvellous use he makes of his actors.
“I’d also like to mention the great impression the young girl Ana Torrent made on me in the two roles I saw her play: in Erice’s film The Spirit of the Beehive, and in Saura’s Cría Cuervos. I dare say that in a few years she will be a woman of rare beauty – you can see it already – and a great actress. Besides these two directors I must of course mention Luis Buñuel, whom I have profoundly admired for many, many years.”
— interviewed by Vicente Molina Foix in El Pais – Artes, 20 December 20 1980, translated in 2013 by Georges Privet
[Kubrick asked Saura to supervise the Spanish versions of A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and The Shining.] - DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsMalcolm McDowellDavid WoodRichard WarwickIn this allegorical story, a revolution led by pupil Mick Travis takes place at an old established private school in England.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.Sir Christopher Frayling’s Leone biography (Something to do with Death) states on page 299:
“Kubrick admired the film as well. So much so, according to Leone, that he selected the music for Barry Lyndon before shooting the film in order to attempt a similar fusion of music and image. While he was preparing the film, he phoned Leone, who later recalled: ‘Stanley Kubrick said to me, “I’ve got all Ennio Morricone’s albums. Can you explain to me why I only seem to like the music he composed for your films?” To which I replied, “Don’t worry, I didn’t think much of Richard Strauss until I saw 2001!”’” - DirectorBo WiderbergStarsPeter SchildtKerstin TideliusRoland HedlundDuring a strike strike-breakers are being transported to Lunde, where they are assaulted by the strikers. The military are sent in. On the 14th May 1931 there is a confrontation between demonstrators and the military who open fire and five people are killed and five injured.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorRichard FleischerKinji FukasakuToshio MasudaStarsMartin BalsamSô YamamuraJason RobardsThe story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorJan TroellStarsMax von SydowLiv UllmannEddie AxbergSmåland, Sweden, mid-19th century. A farming family struggle with their rocky, unyielding land, and decide to embark on the arduous journey to new hope in America.Jan Harlan: “He adored The Emigrants. He was so enthused by the look of it that he hired the costume lady Ulla-Britt Söderlund for Barry Lyndon, who then worked with Milena Canonero. I remember Stanley wanting to talk to Jan Troell to congratulate him and ask him a few questions, and what happened so often to him when making these calls, after finally getting the person he wanted: ‘Is this Jan Troell?’, ‘Yes, who is this?’, ‘This is Stanley Kubrick’, ‘I bet you are’, and click, hung up. Then Stanley had to try again with: ‘Don’t hang up!’ etc.”
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsRuth GordonBud CortVivian PicklesYoung, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral."He loved Harold and Maude" According to Jan Harlan
- DirectorBob FosseStarsLiza MinnelliMichael YorkHelmut GriemA female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonLiv UllmannKari SylwanWhen a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.Jan Harlan: “He was very impressed and depressed by Cries and Whispers – he could barely finish it. I was with him.”
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsJon VoightBurt ReynoldsNed BeattyIntent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRichard DreyfussRon HowardPaul Le MatA group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.There are a few differences between the French and English editions of the Kubrick interviews that appear in Michel Ciment’s Kubrick book. (Kubrick subsequently revised the text for the first printing of the English edition.) In the French version, Kubrick says at one point:
“If I made as much money as George Lucas, I would not decide to become a studio mogul. I cannot understand why he doesn’t want to direct films anymore, because American Graffiti and even Star Wars were very good.”
— translated by Georges Privet, 2013 - DirectorMike HodgesStarsGeorge SegalJoan HackettRichard DysartHoping to cure his violent seizures, a man agrees to a series of experimental microcomputers inserted into his brain but inadvertently discovers that violence now triggers a pleasurable response to his brain."It’s terrific" - Stanley Kubrick
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsAna TorrentConchita PérezMayte SanchezIn the twilight of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, an 8-year-old orphan and her two sisters find shelter in the house of their stern aunt and try their best to acclimatize to a new reality. Can they summon up the courage to grow up?Jan Harlan: “I saw Cría Cuervos in Zurich when it came out and loved it. I told Stanley what a great film it was and I remember his answer: ‘I am hungry for a great film – try to borrow a print.’ I called Primitivo Álvaro at Carlos Saura’s office in Madrid and told him how I loved the film and that Stanley Kubrick asked me call, etc etc – could we borrow a 35mm print? The answer was, “of course, we would only be too pleased” etc etc. I reminded him that it must have English subtitles. “Of course” was the answer.
“Two days later Emilio drove to the agent at Heathrow, at that time still temporary import formalities and stuff like this, we had the print ready on the next Saturday and invited a lot of people. Stanley and I ran the film. NO SUBTITLES! For the first ten minutes it doesn’t matter so much, one is enthralled by what we see – the little girl on the staircase, the woman coming out of the man’s bedroom, the girl calling Papa. He is dead. She sees the empty glass, takes it, washes it carefully in the kitchen and mixes the glasses. We are intrigued. Mum comes in, lovely little encounter before the masks of happiness slips from Mum’s face – and the girl is off to feed the pet. What a beginning.
“It became clear that there were no subtitles. Stanley first suggested to stop because it’s unfair. ‘Let’s just finish the reel’, someone said. I knew the film, briefed everybody between the reel changes about what we had seen, and we watched the whole film and loved it.” - DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.According to multiple sources close to Stanley.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.One of Kubrick's faves according to brother-in-law and long time right-hand man Jan Harlan: “‘Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat’ – we laughed out loud.”
- DirectorAlbert BrooksStarsAlbert BrooksKathryn HarroldTyann MeansAlbert Brooks directs himself as a successful film editor with far too many issues that affects the relationship between him and his remarkably patient girlfriend.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsErland JosephsonSusan FleetwoodAllan EdwallAt the dawn of World War III, a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.According to Jan Harlan this was a "very important" favorite of Stanley's.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMia FarrowDianne WiestMike StarrA nostalgic look at radio's golden age focusing on one ordinary family and the various performers in the medium.According to Jan Harlan: “Stanley loved it, not so much because it is a great film, but because this was his childhood too.”
- DirectorGeorge SluizerStarsBernard-Pierre DonnadieuGene BervoetsJohanna ter SteegeRex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.According to Jan Harlan - "Kubrick watched it three times and told Sluizer that it was “the most horrifying film I’ve ever seen”. Sluizer asked: “even moreso than The Shining?”."
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.Jan Harlan: “Stanley liked Branagh’s version much better than the old and old-fashioned Olivier version which he had on his 1963 list, (Of favorite films). He thought it was far superior.”
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenMia FarrowSydney PollackWhen their best friends announce that they're separating, a professor and his wife discover the faults in their own marriage.Jan Harlan: “1993–1999 was such a hectic period – over a year intensive prep for Aryan Papers then the same again for A.I. – both ‘postponed’. These were tough times and watching films was mainly research. He saw fewer films during that time – still, he didn’t shut himself away and certainly saw The Silence of the Lambs and every Woody Allen film. But I can’t tell you specific titles as I could for the earlier periods.”
- DirectorJulio MedemStarsEmma SuárezNancho NovoMaría BarrancoA suicidal, has-been rock star tells an amnesiac woman they are longtime lovers after he witnesses her crash her motorcycle.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsAntonio GadesCristina HoyosJuan Antonio JiménezA group of dancers puts Lorca's 'Blood Wedding' on stage, the tragic play about a married man who is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, and tries to reunite with her despite her planned wedding.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsRoy ScheiderJessica LangeAnn ReinkingDirector/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.
- DirectorBille AugustStarsPelle HvenegaardMax von SydowErik PaaskeWhen his wife dies, Lasse takes his 12-year-old son, Pelle, from their home in Sweden to Denmark in search of a better life.According to Jan Harlan, Stanley's brother-in-law and long time right-hand man.