Blast from the Past: Kubrick Revisited
Stanley Kubrick and James Harris acquired the right to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, a novel considered unfilmable, years after it was first published, in September 1955 in Paris, by Olympia Press, which specialized in pornographic literature.
Initially considered a “dirty book” in an era when literary censorship meant jail and fines for publishers, “Lolita” was not published in the U.S. until August 1958, by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, after it had established literary reputation abroad.
In November 1958, when Brando fired Kubrick from his western, One-Eyed Jacks (which he ended up directing), the director said he was resigning “with deep regret” so that he could “commence work on Lolita.
Kubrick was hired by Kirk Douglas to replace director Anthony Mann on the epic Spartacus, which was a critical and commercial hit. Kubrick directed Laurence Olivier and Peter Ustinov in Spartacus, and both of whom were considered for roles in his Lolita adaptation.
With Nabokov’s consent, Kubrick changed the order of events by moving what was the novel’s ending to the start of the film. Kubrick’s decision sacrificed a great ending, but it helped maintain interest; the novel loses some of its energy after Humbert “seduced” Lolita midway.
The novel was set in the 1940s, but Kubrick gave it a contemporary setting, shooting exterior scenes in England with some back-projected scenery in the U.S., including Albany.
Kubrick had to film in England, as much of the finance was raised there, contingent that it also be spent there. Kubrick had been living in England since 1961 and suffered from a deathly fear of flying.
James Mason was Kubrick’s first choice for the role of Humbert Humbert, but the actor initially declined due to a Broadway engagement. Laurence Olivier, who co-starred in Kubrick’s Spartacus, was offered the part but turned it down, based on his agent’s advice.
Kubrick briefly considered Peter Ustinov, who won an Oscar for Spartacus. Harris suggested David Niven, who accepted the part but withdrew for fear that the sponsors of his TV show, “Four Star Playhouse” (1952), would object to the subject matter.
Fortunately for all concerned, Mason got the part of Humbert when he withdrew from the play.
The role of Clare Quilty was expanded from the novel and Kubrick allowed Sellers to adopt several disguises in the film. Early on, Quilty appears as himself, a conceited avant-garde playwright. Later, he is an inquisitive policeman at the hotel where Humbert and Lolita are staying. Next he is the intrusive Beardsley High School psychologist, Doctor Zempf. He persuades Humbert to give Lolita more freedom in her after-school activities. He is seen as a photographer backstage at Lolita’s play. Later in the film, he is an anonymous phone caller conducting a survey.
Jill Haworth was asked to take the role of Lolita but she was under contract to Otto Preminger and he said “no.” Hayley Mills was offered the role but her parents refused permission. Joey Heatherton, Sandra Dee, and Tuesday Weld also were potential candidates for the role.
Although Nabokov originally thought that Sue Lyon was the right girl to play Lolita, years later, Nabokov said that the ideal Lolita would have been Catherine Demongeot, a French actress four years younger than Lyon.
Lyon’s age
Producer Harris explained that Sue Lyon, then 14, was cast because “we knew we must make Lolita a sex object, why the audience could understand why everyone would want to jump on her.” He also said, “We made sure when we cast her that she was a definite sex object, not something that could be interpreted as being perverted.”
Kubrick, through the casting, changed Nabokov’s book as “he wanted it to come off as a love story and to feel very sympathetic with Humbert.”
Censorship
Lolita kisses Humbert goodnight as he plays chess with her mother. His line in the scene is “I take your Queen.” Chess, a recurring motif in Nabokov’s novels, was also a favorite pastime of Kubrick.
At the time the film was released, the Hays Code, dating back to 1934, governed film production. Kubrick later commented, “because of all the pressure over the Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency at the time, I didn’t sufficiently dramatize the erotic aspect of Humbert’s relationship with Lolita. If I could do the film over again, I would have stressed the erotic component of their relationship with the same weight that Nabokov did.” Kubrick hinted at the nature of their relationship indirectly, through double entendre and visual cues such as Humbert painting Lolita’s toes. In 1972, Kubrick said that he “probably wouldn’t have made the film” had he realized in advance how difficult the censorship problems would be.
The film is deliberately vague over Lolita’s age. Kubrick commented, “Lolita was twelve and a half in the book; Sue Lyon was thirteen.” Lyon was 14 by the time filming started and 15 when it finished. Although passed without cuts, Lolita was rated “X” by the British Board of Film Censors when released in 1962, meaning no one under 16 years of age was permitted to watch.
Voice-over narration
Humbert uses the term “nymphet” to describe Lolita; it appears twice in the film and its meaning is left undefined. In a voice-over on the morning after the Ramsdale High School dance, Humbert confides in his diary, “What drives me insane is the twofold nature of this nymphet, of every nymphet perhaps, this mixture in my Lolita of tender, dreamy childishness and kind of eerie vulgarity. I know it is madness to keep this journal, but it gives me strange thrill to do so. And only a loving wife could decipher my microscopic script.”
The screenplay is credited to Nabokov, although very little of what he provided (later published in a shortened version) was used in the film. Nabokov moved out to Hollywood and penned a script for a film adaptation between March and September 1960. The first draft was extremely long—over 400 pages. Producer Harris remarked, “You couldn’t make it. You couldn’t lift it”. Nabokov remained polite about the film in public but in a 1962 interview before seeing the film, commented that it may turn out to be “the swerves of a scenic drive as perceived by the horizontal passenger of an ambulance.”
The music was composed by Nelson Riddle and Bob Harris (the main theme was solely by Bob Harris), and performed by Riddle’s orchestra. The recurring dance number first heard on the radio when Humbert meets Lolita in the garden later became a hit single under the name “Lolita Ya Ya” with Sue Lyon singing on the single version. The flip side was a 60s-style light rock song called “Turn off the Moon” penned by Harris and Al Stillman and also sung by Sue Lyon. There is also a version released as a single credited to Nelson Riddle on the “B-side” of his Route 66 Theme. “Lolita Ya Ya” was later recorded by other bands; it was also a 1962 hit single for The Ventures, reaching 61 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lolita premiered on June 13, 1962, in New York City (the copyright date onscreen is 1961). It performed well with little advertising, relying mostly on word-of-mouth; many critics seemed uninterested or dismissive of the film while others gave it glowing reviews. However, the film was very controversial, due to the content.
Filmmaker David Lynch has said that Lolita is his favorite Kubrick film. Sofia Coppola and Paul Thomas Anderson have also cited Lolita as one of their favorite films.
The film was a commercial success. Produced on a budget of around $2 million, Lolita grossed $9,250,000 domestically. During its initial run, the film earned an estimated $4.5 million in American rentals.
