Lolita (1962)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

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

Release Date:

13 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 | College

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 14

3:30 PM

TCM

US Showtimes:

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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	...	Dr. Keegee
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)
Linda Lawrence	...	Teenager (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		(novel "Lolita")
Vladimir Nabokov		(screenplay)
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	....	hair stylist
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)
A.J. Van Montagu	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
H.L. Bird	....	sound recordist
Winston Ryder	....	dubbing editor
Len Shilton	....	sound recordist
Keith Batten	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Michael Hickey	....	sound (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)
Jimmy Turrell	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gene Coffin	....	costume designer: Miss Winter
Elsa Fennell	....	wardrobe supervisor
Barbara Gillett	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

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

Music Department
Nelson Riddle	....	conductor

Other crew
Pamela Davies	....	continuity
Joyce Herlihy	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Enid Jones	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Una Pearl	....	double (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A.A. Productions Ltd.
• Anya
• Harris-Kubrick Productions (uncredited)
• Seven Arts Productions
• Transworld Pictures

Distributors

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

Other Companies

• Chambers & Partners  titles

Also Known As:

Lolita (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Lolita (Greece) [el]
Lolita (Finland) [fi]
Lolita (France) [fr]
Lolita (Argentina) [es]
Lolita (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Lolita (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

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) | 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:

A.A. Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Stanley Kubrick] [three-way]Humbert vs. Quilty vs. Lolita

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Director Stanley Kubrick. walks through very first shot (center to right bottom) of Humbert in Quilty's house

Quotes:

Clare Quilty: She's a yellow belt. I'm a green belt. That's the way nature made it. What happens is, she throws me all over the place.
Swine: She throws you all over the place?
Clare Quilty: Yes. What she does, she gets me in a, sort of, thing called a sweeping ankle throw. She sweeps my ankles away from under me. I go down with one helluva bang.
Swine: Doesn't it hurt?
Clare Quilty: Well, I sort of lay there in pain, but I love it. I really love it. I lay there hovering between consciousness and unconsciousness. It's really the greatest.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Una gota de sangre para morir amando (1973)

Soundtrack:

Theme from Lolita

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.