Lolita (1962 film)
Lolita premiered on
13 June,
1962 in
New York City. It performed fairly well, with little advertising relying mostly on word-of-mouthâ€"-many critics seemed uninterested or dismissive of the film. The film earned many glowing reviews by prominent film critics. However, the film was very controversial, and Sue Lyon was barred from the premiere due to the film's "Adults Only" status at the time. The film was shown internationally also, in the
UK,
France,
Australia,
Hong Kong,
Canada,
Japan,
Sweden and
Italy.
Years after the film's release it has been released on
VHS,
Laserdisc and
DVD. It received $3,700,000 rentals in the USA on VHS.
Humbert Humbert, a divorced British professor of French literature, travels to small-town America for a teaching position. He allows himself to be swept into a relationship with Charlotte Haze, his widowed and sexually famished landlady, whom he marries in order that he might pursue the woman's 14-year-old flirtatious daughter, Lolita, with whom he has fallen hopelessly in love, but whose affections shall be thwarted by a devious trickster named Clare Quilty.
There are many differences in the film and book. Many of the more explicit parts of the book were taken out of the film due to the strict censors of the 1960s, and the events of the film do not match the events of the novel exactly. One of the most notable changes is the absence of Humbert's first "normal" relationship with a woman his age named Rita. She appears in the book in period of time when Lolita was taken from Humbert. Some of the differences are listed below:
*Lolita's age was raised from 12 to 14, to meet the MPAA standards.
*The relationship between Humbert and alcoholic Rita was left out of the film.
*There is a part in the book in which Humbert and Charlotte go skinny dipping in "Hour Glass Lake" where Charlotte announces she will ship Lo off to a good boarding school; that part takes place in bed in the film version.
*In the novel, Lolita wasn't blonde; she was described as having short brown hair in a bob style, and honey-tanned skin. In the film Lolita has blonde shoulder length hair.
*Sue Lyon is very pretty, but in the novel both Charlotte and Humbert comment on Lolita's lack of conventional attractiveness, and it is hinted that this is why greater suspicion does not fall on Humbert.
*The name "Lolita" is Humbert's invention in the novel, and he is the only character to use it. By contrast, several of the characters in the film (including Lo's mother) refer to her by the pet name.
The film was nominated for 7 Awards, including a
Academy Award for
Best Adapted Screenplay, and won a
Golden Globe for
Most Promising Newcomer which went to
Sue Lyon.
Nominations
*
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay-
Vladimir Nabokov*
BAFTA Award for Best Actor-
James Mason*
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures-
Stanley Kubrick*
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor-
James Mason*
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress-
Shelley Winters*
Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Director-
Stanley Kubrick*
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor-
Peter Sellers*
Venice Film Festival Award for Best Director-
Stanley KubrickWon
*
Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer-
Sue Lyon* The scene where Lolita first "seduces" Humbert as he lies in the cot is a good 10 seconds longer in the British and Australian cut of the film. In the U.S. cut, the shot fades as she whispers the details of the "game" she played with Charlie at camp. In the UK print, the shot continues as Humbert mumbles that he's not familiar with the game. She then bends down again to whisper more details. Kubrick then cuts to a closer shot of Lolita's head as she says "Well, allrighty then" and then fades as she begins to descend to Humbert on the cot. The British cut of the film was used for the Region 1 DVD release.
* 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).
* The BBFC cut the film in 1961 for an 'X' rating.
|
Lolita when Humbert first meets her, sunbathing in her backyard |
*
James Mason was the first choice of director
Stanley Kubrick and producer
James B. Harris for the role of Humbert Humbert, but he initially declined due to a Broadway engagement. Laurence Olivier then refused the part, apparently on the advice of his agents. Kubrick considered Peter Ustinov, but decided against him. Harris then suggested David Niven; Niven accepted the part, but then withdrew for fear the sponsors of his TV show, "Four Star Playhouse" (1952), would object. Mason then withdrew from his play and got the part. Harris denies claims that Noel Coward also rejected the role.
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056193/trivia]*
Tuesday Weld was considered for the role of Lolita.
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056193/trivia]* Close to 800 girls auditioned for the part of Lolita Haze.
*
Hayley Mills also turned down the role of Lolita. At the time, her father,
John Mills was credited with the decision; later,
Walt Disney.
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056193/trivia]* Stanley Kubrick originally wanted
Joey Heatherton for the title role of Lolita, but her father Ray Heatherton said no for fear his daughter would be typecast as a "promiscuous sex kitten".
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056193/trivia]*
Peter Sellers modeled the voice of his character Clare Quilty on that of famed jazz producer
Norman Granz.
* Sue Lyon was chosen for the title role partly due to the size of her breasts. Stanley Kubrick had been warned that censors felt strongly against the use of a less developed actress to portray the sexually active 13 year old.
* In the opening scene, Quilty says, "I am Spartacus," a reference to Stanley Kubrick's earlier film,
Spartacus (1960).
* The famous heart-shaped sunglasses that Lolita wears appear only in publicity photos taken by Bert Stern; Lolita wears normal sunglasses in the movie.
* Since the censors would allow nothing close to a suggestion of pedophilia, Lolita's age had to be increased from 12 in Vladimir Nabokov's original novel to 14 for the film. They also objected to a scene where Humbert Humbert was to gaze at Lolita's picture while in bed with her mother Charlotte; in the end, the scene was filmed with Charlotte lying fully dressed on the bed and Humbert lying beside her wearing a robe.
* The clip they are watching at the drive-in is from Terence Fisher's
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). When it cuts to the shot of them in the car, the soundtrack from the movie is fabricated to make it seem like there is far more mayhem occurring in that movie.
* When Humbert and Charlotte Haze discuss sending Lolita to a girl's camp, Charlotte holds a smoking cigarette in her left hand in some shots, but not others.
* When Humbert comes through the door in the beginning of the movie, he walks by a painting in the hall. Some moments later he shoots 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.
Richard Corliss,
Lolita (London: British Film Institute, 1994; ISBN 0-85170-368-2). A witty exploration of the film, patterned on
Pale Fire.
