Lolita

"How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?"

1962 2h 34m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 2,314

DramaComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.

“How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?”

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Cast

James Mason
Prof. Humbert Humbert
Shelley Winters
Charlotte Haze
Sue Lyon
Dolores "Lolita" Haze
Gary Cockrell
Richard T. "Dick" Siller
Jerry Stovin
John Farlow
Diana Decker
Jean Farlow
Lois Maxwell
Nurse Mary Lore
Cec Linder
Physician

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Vladimir Nabokov
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 154 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

64 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nelson Riddle. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anthony Harvey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stanley Kubrick directs. Oswald Morris behind the camera. Nelson Riddle scores. Anthony Harvey cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 154 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 4.6× over at the box office.
464 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
6Directed by Stanley Kubrick, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Nelson Riddle. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Anthony Harvey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9James Mason and Shelley Winters and Sue Lyon carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?".
11IMDB entry: tt0056193 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 25 themes, including "hotel", "depression", "lolita", "small town".

The technical file

Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Original score: Nelson Riddle
Editing: Anthony Harvey
Costume design: Gene Coffin
Makeup / hair: Betty Glasow
Runtime: 154 min · 2h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Box office: $9,250,000
Return: 463% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Lolita (1962)

Awards

Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Stanley Kubrick

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2024-02-19
★ 6/10
An attractive 14 years-old girl knows the power over males she has… and wields it A middle-aged professor of French literature (James Mason) spends the summer in New Hampshire where he becomes infatuated by a 14 years-old girl (Sue Lyon), the daughter of the woman who rents him a room (Shelley Winters). Nothing good will come from this attraction if he cannot keep it in check. Helmed by Stanley Kubrick based on the book by Vladimir Nabokov, "Lolita" (1962) is a B&W black comedy and psychological drama that was controversial in its day (and still is) so the physical intimacy of the adult-minor relationship is only hinted at. Sue Lyon turned 15 during shooting and is surprisingly a good actress at such a young age. Don’t expect much exploitation of her beauty, though, beyond an early scene of her in a two-piece bathing suit. The character of Quilty has less of a role in the book and is believable. He’s basically a dark shadow of Humbert, mirroring Humbert's carnal qualities. Unfortunately, Kubrick allowed Peters Sellers to get out-of-control in the part, which spoils it (and the movie). Don’t get me wrong, Peter Sellers has great charisma, even here, but too many of his Quilty scenes are nonsensical or implausible. The two worst examples are: When he shows up at that hotel and has that eye-rolling (ad-libbed) conversation on the porch while looking in the opposite direction of Humbert. Later he shows up at Humbert’s abode masquerading as a school psychiatrist threatening to have a group of therapists come over to observe Lolita's homelife, unless she can be in his play. Why Sure! It doesn’t help that Humbert curiously goes along with both without question. While overlong by at least half an hour, the cast is a highlight and the drama is fairly compelling and sometimes amusing despite the quaint datedness of the production and the eye-rolling Quilty scenes. The film runs 2 hours, 32 minutes, and was shot in both America and England. GRADE: B-

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