Lolita

Lolita (1962)

Timing: 2:34 (154 min)

7.3/10
2227

7.044/10
23799

7.5/10
116000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 84

Actors and characters

Release date

1962-06-13

Country

United Kingdom, United States

Production

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Seven Arts Productions, Harris Kubrick Pictures, A.A. Productions, Ltd., Anya Pictures, Transworld Pictures

Genre

Drama, Comedy, Romance, Crime

Budget

$2 000 000

Revenue

$9 250 000

Website

Director

Stanley Kubrick

Actors

James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Gary Cockrell, Jerry Stovin, Diana Decker, Lois Maxwell, Cec Linder, Bill Greene, Shirley Douglas
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

James B. Harris, Eliot Hyman

Operator

Oswald Morris

Composer

Nelson Riddle

Artist

Audition

James Liggat

Editing

Anthony Harvey, Raymond Anzarut
All team (47)

• The film is based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" (Lolita: written in English and published in 1955; a Russian translation of the novel, performed by the author himself, was released in 1967).
• Kubrick struggled to cast the role of Lolita for a long time. In the summer of 1960, at Loretta Young's show, Kubrick noticed 14-year-old Sue Lyon, who had previously worked on television and in commercials for a year. After meeting with Lyon, Kubrick showed her photos to Nabokov, who approved the choice. A seven-year contract was signed with Lyon.
• Peter Sellers gave his character, Clare Quilty, the voice of Stanley Kubrick.
• Initially, director Stanley Kubrick suggested Tuesday Weld, age 17, for the role of Lolita, but Nabokov disagreed with this choice. Nabokov was concerned that the action of the book was being moved into the real world; he considered the character of Lolita a fiction. According to the writer, her role should not be played by a teenager, but by a person with a childlike appearance, yet possessing the sophistication of an adult (for example, a dwarf). Kubrick did not agree with this suggestion.
• The Catholic Legion organization demanded that in the scene implying sexual contact between Humbert and Lolita, the seduction be shown only through allusion, without dialogue and not in a bed. The director presented this episode as Lolita’s phrase about a “game” she learned at camp.
• The film is based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" (Lolita: written in English and published in 1955; a Russian translation of the novel, authored by Nabokov himself, was released in 1967).
• Nabokov's original screenplay differed significantly from the novel, but Kubrick only used a portion of it, although Nabokov was credited. Nabokov later published this as "Lolita: A Screenplay." The rejected screenplay included a cameo appearance for Nabokov as a "peculiar man with a net" (Nabokov was famous for his love of butterflies and moths).
• In the first scene, Quilty says, "I am Spartacus," which is an allusion to another film by Stanley Kubrick, "Spartacus."