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 | professor | nymphet | writer | 

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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:

Lolita

Filming Locations:

Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,631

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

Errol Flynn was considered for Humbert Humbert, but died before the film was made.

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Goofs

When Humbert comes through the door in the beginning of the movie, he walks by a painting in the hall. Some moments later he is shooting through the same painting on the stair case. When Quilty is first shot in the leg, a covered chair is visible at the top of the stairs, it isn't until Humbert reloads and Quilty makes it to the top of the stairs that we see the painting that he hides behind before being shot.

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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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Alternate Versions

The Criterion laserdisc release is the only one to use a transfer approved by Stanley Kubrick. This transfer alternates between a 1.33 and a 1.66 aspect ratio (as does the Kubrick-approved 'Strangelove' transfer). All subsequent releases to date have been 1.66 (which means that all the 1.33 shots are slightly matted).

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Bill Murray/Delbert McClinton (1981)

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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

Tasteful and Entertaining

Not the two words that came to mind when I first read the book. This movie nicely handles the taboo subject matter and is tremendously funny as well. Peter Sellers was warming up for his triumph in Dr. Strangelove, Shelly Winters gave her best performance, and James Mason made us feel his pain. As Lolita, Sue Lyon is convincing although Kubrick makes her character a bit older (probably to satisfy the censors, which still slapped this with an X rating originally, much to my surprise). The movie could play on TV today with no edits. I have not seen the 1997 remake but can only imagine, given its director with a reputation of going over the top, that it's not as classy and tasteful as this one. Since this was made in 1962, the risque elements from the book were left to our imagination. And the movie scores highly because of it. The movie's story is stuck in the '60s (that bubblegum music, which played during Lolita's early scenes, will stick with you), and if you are bored with the story, or cannot believe what you're seeing, you can always get a culture lesson: Hula hoops, malt shops, pseudo intellectuals, faulty cots and gas stations where they still pump your gas.