The upside of doing a retrospective on a Director, Actor or Genre is that it brings to the forefront films that would not, normally be viewed - most of the time based on pre-conceived notions of what the film experience is going to be like.
Such was the attitude towards Stanley Kubrick's 1962 LOLITA - you know the one where the 40 year old man has the hots for a 14 year old girl?
And..if that is your attitude and is what is keeping you away from viewing this film, then you are missing out, for LOLITA is much, much more than a titillating sex romp - it's a dark comedy that delves into the theme of sexual obsession.
After being a "Director for hire" for the big budget, "swords and sandals" epic SPARTACUS, Kubrick was itching to do a "smaller, more personal" motion picture in which he had total control and discovered his next project when he came across Vladimir Nabokov's "un-filmable" novel - a challenge that Kubrick was eager to take on.
Understanding the mores and morals of the time, Kubrick, wisely, veered this story of a middle-aged College professor who becomes infatuated and then obsessed and then possessive of a 14 year old girl to something more akin to a black comedy - a decision that was made all-the-more easier when he cast Peter Sellers in the relatively small role of Quilty (more on that later).
Kubrick had some issue casting the lead male of this film, looking at Cary Grant (who turned it down with indignation), Errol Flynn (who was interested but passed away before the film began production), James Mason (who initially turned it down due to a scheduling conflict), David Niven (who accepted and then pulled out of the project for fear of negative publicity), Sir Laurence Olivier (no) and Peter Ustinov (who Kubrick thought about, but didn't want to cast him again after directing him to an Academy Award in Spartacus). Mason's schedule finally opened up to allow him to play the part.
Kubrick would exercise COMPLETE control over this film for the first time (control that he would keep for the rest of his career) and this, of course, would lead to conflicts with the studio (who were not thrilled that Kubrick was averaging only 1 minute of screen time filmed daily), the cinematographer, Oswald Morris (of course) and, famously, the always stubborn Shelley Winters who came close to being fired from this film from Kubrick.
On the other hand, Kubrick gave "free reign" to Sellers and would shoot all of his scenes with 3 cameras to catch as much of his improvisation as possible - and the result is the most interesting character in the film, so interesting in fact that Kubrick put the last scene in the film at the beginning of the picture to draw the audience in and to set the tone of a dark comedy - and it works marvelously well.
Mason, Winters and newcomer Lyons all acquit themselves very well in what are pretty one-dimensional roles (though Mason does find some layers to Humbert that would have been missed by lesser actors) while the plot of the movie...if you stop and think about it...is pretty thin for a film of this length.
Fortunately, the cinematography of Lolita, of course, is meticulously precise and gorgeous - a hallmark of Kubrick films - while the pacing of this 2 hour and 33 minute film could use some trimming (especially right around the 2/3 mark where the dark comedy turns more dark and less comedy) while Nelson Riddle's Orchestration lays on a layer that is light and airy, giving some touchy subject matter and dark themes (at times) a much needed lift into the light.
In the end, this film succeeds due to Mason's performance, Kubrick's meticulousness and Sellers antics (think of him as the Robin Williams of his day - and Kubrick was so taken by Sellers that he immediately cast him in his next film - DR. STRANGELOVE) and less because of the provocativeness of the central, inappropriate, relationship.
And this, is why this film works as a dark comedy.
Letter Grade: B+
7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to theBank(ofMarquis)
NEXT MONTH: DR. STRANGELOVE or: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)
Such was the attitude towards Stanley Kubrick's 1962 LOLITA - you know the one where the 40 year old man has the hots for a 14 year old girl?
And..if that is your attitude and is what is keeping you away from viewing this film, then you are missing out, for LOLITA is much, much more than a titillating sex romp - it's a dark comedy that delves into the theme of sexual obsession.
After being a "Director for hire" for the big budget, "swords and sandals" epic SPARTACUS, Kubrick was itching to do a "smaller, more personal" motion picture in which he had total control and discovered his next project when he came across Vladimir Nabokov's "un-filmable" novel - a challenge that Kubrick was eager to take on.
Understanding the mores and morals of the time, Kubrick, wisely, veered this story of a middle-aged College professor who becomes infatuated and then obsessed and then possessive of a 14 year old girl to something more akin to a black comedy - a decision that was made all-the-more easier when he cast Peter Sellers in the relatively small role of Quilty (more on that later).
Kubrick had some issue casting the lead male of this film, looking at Cary Grant (who turned it down with indignation), Errol Flynn (who was interested but passed away before the film began production), James Mason (who initially turned it down due to a scheduling conflict), David Niven (who accepted and then pulled out of the project for fear of negative publicity), Sir Laurence Olivier (no) and Peter Ustinov (who Kubrick thought about, but didn't want to cast him again after directing him to an Academy Award in Spartacus). Mason's schedule finally opened up to allow him to play the part.
Kubrick would exercise COMPLETE control over this film for the first time (control that he would keep for the rest of his career) and this, of course, would lead to conflicts with the studio (who were not thrilled that Kubrick was averaging only 1 minute of screen time filmed daily), the cinematographer, Oswald Morris (of course) and, famously, the always stubborn Shelley Winters who came close to being fired from this film from Kubrick.
On the other hand, Kubrick gave "free reign" to Sellers and would shoot all of his scenes with 3 cameras to catch as much of his improvisation as possible - and the result is the most interesting character in the film, so interesting in fact that Kubrick put the last scene in the film at the beginning of the picture to draw the audience in and to set the tone of a dark comedy - and it works marvelously well.
Mason, Winters and newcomer Lyons all acquit themselves very well in what are pretty one-dimensional roles (though Mason does find some layers to Humbert that would have been missed by lesser actors) while the plot of the movie...if you stop and think about it...is pretty thin for a film of this length.
Fortunately, the cinematography of Lolita, of course, is meticulously precise and gorgeous - a hallmark of Kubrick films - while the pacing of this 2 hour and 33 minute film could use some trimming (especially right around the 2/3 mark where the dark comedy turns more dark and less comedy) while Nelson Riddle's Orchestration lays on a layer that is light and airy, giving some touchy subject matter and dark themes (at times) a much needed lift into the light.
In the end, this film succeeds due to Mason's performance, Kubrick's meticulousness and Sellers antics (think of him as the Robin Williams of his day - and Kubrick was so taken by Sellers that he immediately cast him in his next film - DR. STRANGELOVE) and less because of the provocativeness of the central, inappropriate, relationship.
And this, is why this film works as a dark comedy.
Letter Grade: B+
7 1/2 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to theBank(ofMarquis)
NEXT MONTH: DR. STRANGELOVE or: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)