Details

Lolita shows Kubrick setting out his directorial stall. Filmed in widescreen black and white and using top-grade actors to illuminate Valdimir Nobokov's (at the time) scandalous novel, Kubrick goes about as far as good taste and the legitimate film business world allow in dealing with an older man's sexual obsession with an under-age girl. Yet what rewards repeated viewings, and also saves the movie from dating, is the fantastic level of performance Kubrick extracts from Shelley Winters as the nymphet's vulgar mother, Peter Sellers as Lolita's ultimate love object, Sue Lyon as the knowing teenager and especially James Mason who plays the urbane yet tragic Humbert Humbert, one of the actor's career highpoints. Lolita is also genuinely funny and in its own terms moving, as the lover of youth is ultimately undone by love itself.

Cast/Performers

James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers

Creatives/Company

Director: Stanley Kubrick