Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis, John Gavin, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, and Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960)

Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain in Lolita (1997)

Sterling Hayden and Marie Windsor in The Killing (1956)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Stanley Kubrick and Sue Lyon in Lolita (1962)

James Mason, James B. Harris, and Sue Lyon in Lolita (1962)

James Mason and Shelley Winters in Lolita (1962)

Peter Sellers, James B. Harris, and Marianne Stone in Lolita (1962)

Peter Sellers and Shelley Winters in Lolita (1962)

James Mason

Shelley Winters

Sue Lyon

Vladimir Nabokov

James B. Harris

Stanley Kubrick

A middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl.

Lolita

One of the finest films of The Sixties

8/10

Kubrik&apos;s version of Nabokov&apos;s tale of a middle-aged professor&apos;s self-destructive obsession with a young schoolgirl. Making a film that dealt with underage sex was considered impossible in 1962 due to the strict censorship regulations. Kubrik manages to get round this by merely alluding to sexual encounters and subtle wordplay and symbolism creeps into several scenes. He also raises the girl&apos;s age from 12 in the novel to 14 in the film. Lolita is also rich in Kubrik&apos;s trademark dark humour.

The three central characters of the novel are all portrayed more than adequately in the film; James Mason as the smitten professor, Shelley Winters as the suburban widow with pretensions of culture and Sue Lyons as the young nymphet. However, it is Sellars&apos; performance as the creepy eccentric Clare Quilty (a relatively minor character in the book) that steals the show and, ultimately, makes the film. The opening scene (which is the ending of the film) is an outstanding testament to his talent and versatility. The said scene gives the film the same &quot;circular structure&quot; used by David Lean in &quot;Brief Encounter&quot;.

My favourite moments include; Quilty&apos;s re-introduction to the film at the school&apos;s summer ball as the camera pans across the dancefloor and subtly reveals a look of comic ambivalence on his face as he dances with his lover, Humbert awkwardly trying to book the only remaining hotel-room at the police convention and Humbert again trying to teach the cynical Lolita the joys of Edgar Allen Poe&apos;s poetry.

I thoroughly recommend this film. My only complaint is the length - the final third seemed to drag a bit.

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8/10

Kubrik's version of Nabokov's tale of a middle-aged professor's self-destructive obsession with a young schoolgirl. Making a film that dealt with underage sex was considered impossible in 1962 due to the strict censorship regulations. Kubrik manages to get round this by merely alluding to sexual encounters and subtle wordplay and symbolism creeps into several scenes. He also raises the girl's age from 12 in the novel to 14 in the film. Lolita is also rich in Kubrik's trademark dark humour.

The three central characters of the novel are all portrayed more than adequately in the film; James Mason as the smitten professor, Shelley Winters as the suburban widow with pretensions of culture and Sue Lyons as the young nymphet. However, it is Sellars' performance as the creepy eccentric Clare Quilty (a relatively minor character in the book) that steals the show and, ultimately, makes the film. The opening scene (which is the ending of the film) is an outstanding testament to his talent and versatility. The said scene gives the film the same "circular structure" used by David Lean in "Brief Encounter".

My favourite moments include; Quilty's re-introduction to the film at the school's summer ball as the camera pans across the dancefloor and subtly reveals a look of comic ambivalence on his face as he dances with his lover, Humbert awkwardly trying to book the only remaining hotel-room at the police convention and Humbert again trying to teach the cynical Lolita the joys of Edgar Allen Poe's poetry.

I thoroughly recommend this film. My only complaint is the length - the final third seemed to drag a bit.

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Lolita

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