Lolita [Blu-ray]

Overview

"How did they make a movie out of Lolita?" teased the print ads of this Stanley Kubrick production. The answer: by adding three years to the title character's age. The original Vladimir Nabokov novel caused no end of scandal by detailing the romance between a middle-aged intellectual and a 12-year-old nymphet. The affair is "cleansed" ever so slightly in the film by making Lolita a 15-year-old (portrayed by 16-year-old Sue Lyon). In adapting his novel to film, Nabokov downplayed the wicked satire and sensuality of the material, concentrating instead on the story's farcical aspects. James Mason plays professor Humbert Humbert, who while waiting to begin a teaching post in the United States rents a room from blowzy Shelley Winters. Winters immediately falls for the worldly Humbert, but he only has eyes for his landlady's nubile daughter Lolita. The professor goes so far as to marry Winters so that he can remain near to the object of his ardor. Turning up like a bad penny at every opportunity is smarmy TV writer Quilty (Peter Sellers), who seems inordinately interested in Humbert's behavior. When Winters happens to read Humbert's diary, she is so revolted by his lustful thoughts that she runs blindly into the street, where she is struck and killed by a car. Without telling Lolita that her mother is dead, Humbert packs her into the car and goes on a cross-country trip, dogged every inch of the way by a mysterious pursuer. Once she gets over the shock of her mother's death, Lolita is agreeable to inaugurating an affair with her stepfather (this is handled very, very discreetly, despite the slavering critical assessments of 1962). But when the girl begins discovering boys her own age, she drifts away from Humbert. One day, she leaves without warning. This is humiliation enough for Humbert; but when he discovers who her secret lover really is, the results are fatal. We are prepared for the ending because the film has been framed as a flashback; what we are not prepared for is Stanley Kubrick's adroit manipulation of our sympathies and expectations. An incredibly long film considering its subject matter, Lolita is never dull, nor does it ever stoop to the sensationalism prevalent in the film's ad campaign.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/23/2011
UPC:	0883929209439
Original Release:	1962
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Sales rank:	4,010

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Mason	Humbert Humbert
Sue Lyon	Lolita Haze
Peter Sellers	Clare Quilty
Shelley Winters	Charlotte Haze
Marianne Stone	Vivian Darkbloom
Diana Decker	Jean Farlow
Jerry Stovin	John Farlow
Gary Cockrell	Dick
Suzanne Gibbs	Mona Farlow
Roberta Shore	Lorna
Eric Lane	Roy
Shirley Douglas	Mrs. Starch
Roland Brand	Bill
Colin Maitland	Charlie
Cec Linder	Physician
Irvin Allen	Hospital Attendant
Lois Maxwell	Nurse Mary Lore
William E. Greene	Swine,Actor
C. Denier Warren	Potts
Isobel Lucas	Haze Maid
Maxine Holden	Hotel Receptionist
Marion Mathie	Miss Lebone
Craig Sams	Rex
John Harrison	Tom
James Dyrenforth	Beale Senior
Terry Kilburn	Man
Beverly Bennett	Friend
Angela Bradley	Friend
Copper Penny	Actor
Nelson Riddle	Composer

Technical Credits

Stanley Kubrick

Vladimir Nabokov

Stanley Kubrick	Director,Screenwriter
Vladimir Nabokov	Screenwriter
James B. Harris	Producer
Winston Ryder	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Of all of Stanley Kubrick's films, Lolita typically gets the lowest marks. While in many respects that's a fair assessment, it sells short the accomplishment of making a workable film of Vladimir Nabokov's novel within the restrictions of the early '60s, or any era, really. Working from a Nabokov script, Kubrick places his emphasis squarely on the novel's dark comedy. Strip the difference in age and Humbert Humbert's attitude toward Lolita becomes simply a portrait of the male psyche at its ugliest: obsessive in his idealization before Lolita reciprocates his affections, he becomes possessive and patronizing once their relationship gets underway. Capable of seeming charming and self-effacing even while he's destroying the lives of those around him, James Mason's performance holds the film together, but virtually every key role has been smartly cast. Peter Sellers is both funny and chilling as Mason's doppelganger, a man able to commit the same offenses with virtually none of the consequences. It's Winters, however, who grounds the film, her tremendously sad, all-too-recognizable character lending it a humanity lacking when she disappears from its second half. When Humbert's wanderings begin, the film itself loses its way a bit, in part due to its reliance on the interaction between Mason and Sue Lyon, who never quite displays the acting chops to match her appealing presence. A daring experiment, and in many respects a successful one, Kubrick's film is ultimately unable to maintain the uncomfortable intensity of its early domestic scenes, but still has much more going for it than its reputation as an interesting failure would suggest.

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