Lolita (1962)

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

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Vladimir Nabokov (screenplay), Vladimir Nabokov (novel)

Stars:

James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Humbert Humbert forces a confrontation with a man, whose name he has just recently learned, in this man's home. The events that led to this standoff began four years earlier. Middle aged Humbert, a European, arrives in the United States where he has secured at job at Beardsley College in Beardsley, Ohio as a Professor of French Literature. Before he begins his post in the fall, he decides to spend the summer in the resort town of Ramsdale, New Hampshire. He is given the name of Charlotte Haze as someone who is renting a room in her home for the summer. He finds that Charlotte, widowed now for seven years, is a woman who puts on airs. Among the demonstration of those airs is throwing around the name of Clare Quilty, a television and stage script writer, who came to speak at her women's club meeting and who she implies is now a friend. Those airs also mask being lonely, especially as she is a sexually aggressive and liberated woman. Humbert considers Charlotte a proverbial "joke" but ...

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Plot Keywords:

black humor | based on novel | lolita | professor | nymphet | 

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Taglines:

How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English French Spanish German

Release Date:

21 June 1962 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Лолита

Filming Locations:

Albany, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$9,250,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.A. Productions Ltd., Anya, Harris-Kubrick Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stanley Kubrick prepared for the film while shooting Spartacus (1960) in Spain. Brought in at the last minute to replace Anthony Mann, Kubrick was primarily a director for hire on the film, supervising the actors and setting up shots but forced to follow Dalton Trumbo's screenplay closely. He dealt with the frustration of working that way by developing the supposedly unfilmable novel for the screen.

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Goofs

When the blow out happens, the shots immediately afterward show the car is on a long, straight stretch of road. However, in the shot immediately before this, Humbert was steering the car through numerous corners, and had only just finished straightening the car out when the blow out happened.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

The credits are played over footage of Lolita's toenails being painted.

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Connections

Referenced in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

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Soundtracks

Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1
(uncredited)
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Played by Quilty on the piano during the film's opening scene.

User Reviews

Humorous, disturbing, and everything in between!

I think Stanley Kubrick was the only director who had any ideas of how to tackle a film version of Lolita. I also believe that he was the only director who could have succeeded, and I believe he did succeed. This film was everything I could have expected it to be, and maybe even a little more.

Shelley Winters' performance was wonderful! James Mason delivered a strong effort in a very difficult part to play. Peter Sellers was Peter Sellers, four or five times throughout the movie, but that's Peter Sellers, and that's why I am really starting to admire his work. The real surprise performance in this movie, however, came from Sue Lyon in the title role. Her intensity was incredible. She seemed perfectly natural as a teenage girl enjoying the attention of older men, or just men in general. You could really see the wheels turning in her head as she schemed her way from one situation to the other. Some have criticized that her Lolita was "too old" in comparison to the novel's Lolita. One could make that judgment, however, what twelve year old actress would have been able to provide the emotional depth required for the part? Let's face it, in literary adaptations, some license must be allowed. All in all, I thought it was a very good movie, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the work of Stanley Kubrick and/or Peter Sellers.