Lolita (film)
"Lolita" is a 1962 American black comedy directed by Stanley Kubrick, adapted from Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel of the same name. The film centers on the character Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged professor who becomes obsessed with his landlady's young daughter, Lolita. Notably, the film was shot entirely in black and white and received mixed critical reviews, though it performed well at the box office, earning approximately $4.5 million against a budget of about $2 million.
Sue Lyon, cast as Lolita, was fourteen when filming began, with her age raised from twelve in the original novel to a young teen in the adaptation. The role of Humbert was portrayed by James Mason, who was initially hesitant to accept the role. The film incorporates significant alterations from the novel to meet the standards of the time, including raising Lolita’s age and addressing the themes of obsession and manipulation through a more palatable lens.
Kubrick's adaptation faced scrutiny due to its subject matter, leading to restrictions such as banning viewers under eighteen from attending screenings. The film received several nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Nabokov's screenplay and multiple Golden Globe nominations for the cast and Kubrick himself. "Lolita" remains a significant work in film history, inspiring various adaptations, including a 1997 version that struggled to find theatrical distribution in the U.S.
Lolita (film)
- Release Date: 1962
- Director(s): Stanley Kubrick
- Writer(s): Vladimir Nabokov
- Principal Actors and Roles: Sue Lyon (Lolita); James Mason (Prof. Humbert Humbert); Peter Sellers (Clare Quilty); Shelley Winters (Charlotte Haze); Marianne Stone (Vivian Darkbloom)
- Book / Story Film Based On: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita is an American black comedy about a middle-aged man obsessed with a young girl. Filmed in black and white, it did well at the box office but received mixed reviews from the critics.
Director Stanley Kubrick hired Vladimir Nabokov, author of the book on which the film was based, to write the screenplay. Nabokov later published his lengthy screenplay in book form; Kubrick said it would have made a seven-hour movie. Kubrick ended up writing most of the award-nominated screenplay but gave Nabokov the credit.
In Nabokov’s book, Lolita is twelve years old, but her age was raised to that of a young teen for the movie. Several other girls were considered for the role of Lolita before it was given to Sue Lyon. Tuesday Weld, Hayley Mills, and Joey Heatherton turned down the part. Sue Lyon was fourteen when she was cast and almost sixteen when the movie was released. Children under the age of eighteen were not allowed to see the film, so Lyon was unable to attend the premier.
The part of Humbert Humbert, the male lead, was given to James Mason, Kubrick’s first choice. Mason initially turned down the role and other actors were considered, including Sir Lawrence Olivier, David Niven, Noel Coward, and Rex Harrison. They, too, declined the part, and James Mason eventually accepted it.
Although the story is set in America and includes several road trips, the movie was filmed entirely in England. It was Kubrick’s first film made in England and he made all of his subsequent films there.
Plot
A man enters a dilapidated mansion, where he asks the lone, drunken occupant if he is Clare Quilty. Assured that he is, the man shoots Quilty.
The film flashes back to four years earlier when middle-aged Professor Humbert Humbert rents a room from the widow Charlotte Haze. Humbert is attracted to her teenage daughter, Lolita, and when it looks like he will never see Lolita again, he marries Charlotte. Charlotte discovers his obsession with Lolita, runs out of the house and is hit by a car.
Humbert picks up Lolita from camp, not mentioning that her mother is dead until later. After staying overnight at a hotel, they begin a sexual relationship.
When Humbert refuses to let Lolita date, go to dances, or act in the school play, a school psychologist arrives, threatening to send in a team for a home visit. Humbert gives in, only later discovering that Lolita has not been attending her piano lessons. Humbert is sure she has been seeing a boy and demands Lolita leave town with him.
Lolita eventually agrees, but Humbert believes a car following them is the police. Lolita becomes ill and is hospitalized. Humbert visits her but she is standoffish, and when Humbert returns to check her out, she is gone.
Three years later Humbert receives a letter from Lolita saying she is married, pregnant, and needs money. He goes to her house where she explains that Clare Quilty is the one who took her from the hospital, pretended to be the school psychiatrist, and followed them in his car. Quilty promised to make Lolita a star. When he tried to put her in an "art" film, she left him. Humbert begs her to come away with him, but she refuses, saying she and her husband will be going to Alaska. Humbert gives her money and leaves in great distress.
He finds Quilty in the old mansion and shoots him. An epilogue says that he died of a heart attack while waiting to be tried for Quilty’s murder.
Significance
Lolita did well at the box office. It had a budget of about two million dollars and earned four and a half million dollars within six months of its release.
Critical reviews of Lolita were mixed. The film was considered by some to be brilliant, by others to be only mildly entertaining. James Mason and Shelley Winters were widely praised for their performances. However, Peter Sellers, as Clare Quilty, garnered reviews that ranged from calling his performance hysterically funny to dismissing it as self-indulgent and overwrought.
The novel of Lolita, with its theme of pedophilia, was considered to be one book that could never be brought to film. In fact, the tag line for the movie’s publicity campaign was "How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?" Kubrick made many alterations to bring the book to film. The Production Code Administration and the Catholic Church’s League of Decency had guidelines about what was acceptable in films. Both organizations made stipulations, but eventually approved the script of Lolita. Raising Lolita’s age, putting the murder up front, adding the epilogue about Humbert’s death, and banning viewers under the age of eighteen, were some of the changes Kubrick made so that the film would be approved by the censors.
Kubrick had several "firsts" with Lolita. This was the first time he used voice-over narration, a technique he repeated in later films. It was also the first time he had creative control, and Lolita was the first of his films to be filmed in England.
Vladimir Nabokov was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay. The film received several Golden Globe nominations: Shelley Winters for best actress in a drama, James Mason for best actor in a drama, Peter Sellers for best supporting actor, and Stanley Kubrick for best director. Sue Lyon won a Golden Globe for new star of the year. James Mason was also nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for best British actor and the Directors Guild of America nominated Stanley Kubrick for outstanding directorial achievement.
Lolita has been remade in many forms, including a 1971 musical and a 1981 Broadway play, neither of which were successful. A new film version of Lolita was made in 1997, starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Griffith, and Dominique Swain. It could not find distribution to theaters in the United States, instead debuting on cable television. It was not considered a success.
Awards and nominations
Nominated
- Academy Award (1962) Best Screenplay (Adapted): Vladimir Nabokov
- Golden Globe (1962) Best Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Golden Globe (1962) Best Motion Picture Actor (Drama): James Mason
- Golden Globe (1962) Best Motion Picture Actress (Drama): Shelley Winters
- Golden Globe (1962) Best Supporting Actor: Peter Sellers
Bibliography
Grant, Barry Keith. American Cinema of the 1960s: Themes and Variations. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2008. Print.
Horton, Andrew, and Joanna E. Rapf. A Companion to Film Comedy. Malden: Wiley, 2013. Print.
Howe, Alexander N., and Wynn William Yarbrough. Kidding Around: The Child in Film and Media. New York: Bloomsbury, 2014. Print.
Schneider, Steven Jay. 1001 Movies You Must See before You Die. Rev. ed. Hauppauge: Barron’s, 2013. Print.
Webster, Patrick. Love and Death in Kubrick: A Critical Study of the Films from Lolita through Eyes Wide Shut. Jefferson: McFarland, 2011. Print.
Wyllie, Barbara. Nabokov at the Movies: Film Perspectives in Fiction. Jefferson: McFarland, 2003. Print.