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James Mason, Peter Sellers, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Gary Cockrell

How did they make a movie out of Lolita? teased the print ads of this Stanley Kubrick production. The answer: by adding three years to the title character's age. The original Vladimir Nabokov novel ca...( read more  read more... )used no end of scandal by detailing the romance between a middle-aged intellectual and a 12-year-old nymphet. The affair is cleansed ever so slightly in the film by making Lolita a 15-year-old (portrayed by 16-year-old Sue Lyon). In adapting his novel to film, Nabokov downplayed the wicked satire and sensuality of the material, concentrating instead on the story's farcical aspects. James Mason plays professor Humbert Humbert, who while waiting to begin a teaching post in the United States rents a room from blowzy Shelley Winters. Winters immediately falls for the worldly Humbert, but he only has eyes for his landlady's nubile daughter Lolita. The professor goes so far as to marry Winters so that he can remain near to the object of his ardor. Turning up like a bad penny at every opportunity is smarmy TV writer Quilty (Peter Sellers), who seems inordinately interested in Humbert's behavior. When Winters happens to read Humbert's diary, she is so revolted by his lustful thoughts that she runs blindly into the street, where she is struck and killed by a car. Without telling Lolita that her mother is dead, Humbert packs her into the car and goes on a cross-country trip, dogged every inch of the way by a mysterious pursuer. Once she gets over the shock of her mother's death, Lolita is agreeable to inaugurating an affair with her stepfather (this is handled very, very discreetly, despite the slavering critical assessments of 1962). But when the girl begins discovering boys her own age, she drifts away from Humbert. One day, she leaves without warning. This is humiliation enough for Humbert; but when he discovers who her secret lover really is, the results are fatal. We are prepared for the ending because the film has been framed as a flashback; what we are not prepared for is Stanley Kubrick's adroit manipulation of our sympathies and expectations. An incredibly long film considering its subject matter, Lolita is never dull, nor does it ever stoop to the sensationalism prevalent in the film's ad campaign.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Unrated, 2 hr. 32 min.

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date: June 13, 1962

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DVD Release Date: June 29, 1999

Stats: 1,644 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,644)

  • sononothing
    December 3, 2009
    sononothing
    Lolita provided a watershed for Stanley Kubrick's career. Sure, he made Spartacus and Paths of Glory before 1962, but Lolita proved one thing to the world: that Kubrick had the balls to do whatever film he wanted to do. This film made him that untouchable, mad genius that everyon...( read more)e believes he was, but it really proves that he can make a great movie no matter the subject matter or the constraints put against him.

    Lolita is based on the 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov about Professor Humbert Humbert (James Mason) and the lodgings he has taken in the town for his new position. He is a boarder in the home of Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters), a widow who seems to be hopelessly in love with any man that breathes and knows about her existence. Also living in the house is Charlottes teenage daughter Lolita (Sue Lyon). Humbert becomes obsessed with this "nymphet" and goes out of his way to be near her, even marrying her mother for the chance to show her affection. A relationship develops that's hot and cold between the two and is also strained by the presence of another "beau", Quilty (Peter Sellers).

    James Mason scores as Humbert, pocessing the European demeanor of the character while being able to transmit the lust, the longing, and the conniving throughout the film. This was a ballsy move for Mason and it pays of in his performance. Sue Lyon is also excellent as Lolita, playing a girl that's a bit younger than her actual age. You can tell that she's grown way beyond her years and has more experience than her mother and even Humbert. Peter Sellers pulls out his thousand faces and voices routine throughout the film and delivers a nice performance, though it is brief. Honestly, the real standout is Shelley Winters. Sure, she's Lolita's mother, but it almost seems like there's a competition between the two. It's like a sort of jealousy that Charlotte holds against her daughter because of her relationship with boys and even men that mother just doesn't seem to get. So she's mean to her. Winters expresses all of the e,motions at the same time and can turn them on and off at will. She's briefly in the film, but she makes an impression.

    Kubrick continues to hone his craft into his classic period which would start with his next film, Dr. Strangelove. The opening scenes in the mansion are shot masterfully with Kubrick making you uneasy just being in the place without using cob webs and coffins lying around. You know something's going to happen, you just don't know what it is. The film feels like a comedy/thriller. Sure, the hilarity is right there for all to see, but you have the thrill of Humbert getting caught in his games throughout the film that actually keeps you on the edge of your seat. Nabokov gets the writing credit, but the film is built by Kubrick.

    As I said in the beginning, Lolita was a turning point in Stanley Kubrick's directorial career. For many, it was his first true film and set up that golden age of Kubrick films that ran from Lolita through A Clockwork Orange. It's a masterpiece of playing by the rules while breaking them all at the same time.
  • 76Majikat
    October 14, 2009
    76Majikat
    A much older film than I?d first realised, interesting story, I?m sure very controversial in it?s day ? as seems to be Kubrick?s taste.

    The ending was quite unusual for it?s time I felt, good, but more of an unfinished style which I relate more to a modern style of storytellin...( read more)g.

    Slightly overrated perhaps, but nonetheless watchable.
  • SirPant
    September 4, 2009
    SirPant
    Lolita is visually beautiful as you'd expect from Kubrick but unfortunately it's also unnecessarily long in my opinion. There are great performances from Mason and Winters and a hint of whats to come in Kubrick's next film from Sellers.
  • flixsterman
    August 23, 2009
    flixsterman
    No matter how you slice it, it still boils down to a 40 year old man lusting after a 14 year old girl. I love the movie but, not surprisingly, I always feel a little creepy about it.
  • stopitgoaway
    July 22, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    Watching Lolita again recently I was struck by the way Kubrick and his cast flesh out the story without resorting to the 'show everything' approach taken in the '97 remake. Of course Doleres and Humbert are having a sexual relationship, but you get the sense she's done the same p...( read more)attern before and certainly knows how to lead him on. Sue Lyon has Lolita's sly looks and mannerisms perfectly attuned to the sleazy confusion of the lodger who marries her overbearing mother just to stay close to the 'little girl' he first spotted in the garden ... I find Lolita the most disturbing character in the film for many reasons - she is directly responsible for the ultimate fates of her mother, Humbert and Quilty (although all contribute in some way to their own destruction). James Mason is great in a difficult role (I read somewhere this was at one point intended for Noel Coward, which would have been fascinating ... Peter Sellers put his mimicry talents to good use again as Quilty, but manages to invest this character with a true personality as well, you sense he is as much a victim as Humbert. The only false note is Shelley Winters, who is simply frightful with her cherry pie and her shrine to a 7 years dead husband. Lolita is a slow paced film with many layers and its circular structure where we see the 'ending' first and return to it at the end is an excellent trick.
  • monarchmumy2
    February 9, 2010
    monarchmumy2
    I think it's a wonderful movie! It examines things that on our Western society we don't like to examine! The only problem with it was that we still had sensors you didn't get so much as a "kissing scene" in the whole movie. It was still wonderful
  • albertojeca
    January 21, 2010
    albertojeca
    Una singular pieza de buen cine.
  • kubrickton
    January 17, 2010
    kubrickton
    How did they ever make a movie of Lolita? Stanley Kubrick brings life into Vladimir Naokov's story of middle aged man Humbert Humbert lusting after child nymphet Lolita. Peter Sellers steals the film with his outrageous role as Clare Quilty.
  • ChGeor9
    January 15, 2010
    ChGeor9
    I liked this version;however; I like the remake with Jeremy Iorns better.
  • ElCochran90
    January 13, 2010
    ElCochran90
    An impossible romance. Enchanting direction and extraordinary performances decorate this gorgeous delicacy that could only be directed by a genius filmmaker.

    87/100

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  • samskli
    March 27, 2007
    samskli
    i like this movie ,but , the book is more interesting ,very very interesting
  • samjohnstone
    March 21, 2007
    samjohnstone
    Quite craptaculous-worse than the remake
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Lolita Trivia

  • Rumor has it, the relationship between Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey was the basis of a book by Vladimir Nabokov. This book was turned into one of the most controversial movies ever. Which movie was it?  Answer »
  • name the director of Lolita and 2001?  Answer »
  • Which one of these Stanley Kubrick films was based on a novel of the same name?  Answer »
  • Which actress won a Golden Globe for playing Delores Haze in Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita"?  Answer »
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