Lolita (1962) (B&W) (DVD)

Whoa!! I’ve been a Kubrick fan since I saw “THE SHINING” in 1980…. I was absolutely obsessed with that film (and still am😏)! Then “2001: a Space Odyssey” captured my attention at about 10 years old. “Full Metal Jacket” and “Clockwork Orange” were soon to follow. And with the exception of “THE SHINING” I’d only experienced Kubrick’s masterful filmmaking style on home video (via VHS). Then in 1999 we had the finale Kubrick cinematic masterpiece “Eyes Wide Shut”. And on the first viewing in the theater (of course) I was a bit disappointed with the outcome of that movie. I didn’t appreciate, at the time, the phenomenal work from the actors, the visuals, the music…. STANLEY KUBRICK unapologetically! And now it’s one of my favorites. Then, after a long, long, long while… I finally brought myself to want another Kubrick film. Although Stanley had passed in 1999 (in junction with the release of “Eyes Wide Shut”) I desperately WANTED to see another Kubrick film. Although, the thought of a story set in the 17th century was not appealing to me… unless Dracula was involved.🤪 So I bought “Barry Lyndon” thinking: It’s a Kubrick film, how bad could it be? And, Oh my…. How that film took me in was nothing short of miraculous cineMAGIC from the first viewing!!! So. Here we are, at present: 2/9/2026… I saw “Lolita”… and, just like with all the others…. It was a hypnotic trip, told through the visceral cinematic language that only STANLEY KUBRICK could do. At two and a half hours this film kept me on the edge in a way no other Kubrick film did. Although nothing IMO beats “THE SHINING”… THIS is a masterpiece in its own right. TIMELESS is the subject matter. And the film is absolutely stunning in its portrayal of that famous book by Nabokov. 🔥

When this movie was filmed, it starred Sue Lyon- (age between 14 & 15at the time this was filmed). James Mason was (age 53), Shelley Winters (age 42), and Peter Sellers (age 37). Their given ages helps paint the scene. The acting in this drama by all (including Sue Lyon ) is wonderful!!! I enjoy well performed movies and I have enjoyed this one VERY much. I will copy and paste the below from an Internet discussion. The below is not written by myself. Parents need to know that Lolita is director Stanley Kubrick's dark "comedy" based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel about a man who fantasizes about and sexually abuses a teenage girl. While most of the sexual content is heavily veiled and implied, the plot makes light of Humbert Humbert (James Mason)'s obsession with 14-year-old Dolores (Sue Lyon, who was also 14 at the time of filming) and frames her flirtation as consent. Two women are central characters, but Dolores is inappropriately portrayed as being sexually savvy and in control of her abusive situation. Two people die off-screen. There's virtually no racial diversity, and outdated terms "colored" and "oriental" are used by White characters. Other language includes "damn," "hell," "shut up," "God," "jerk," "brat," and "creep." Casual drinking and smoking and two characters are shown in a drunken stupor. O.k., the above is a good description ,,, This movie is captivating. I wouldn't show it to children, but there isn't anything filmed that is offensive to watch. It's based on the novel, so is psychologically provoking so fascinating to spend time with. I don't believe Sue Lyon made any more movies (I am not sure) but she sure was a very good actress in this one. Cute, adorable and very intelligently acted. Liberties were taken during filming so the Lolita character is vastly different from the book version. Very good movie, and personally, I just LOVE James Mason AND Shelley Winters in this one. Very handsome and talented gentleman, and Shelley's acting is non pareil. She is lovely; emotional - helpless and brilliant! I can't think of anyone else playing the part of Charlotte Haze. This is a VERY good movie... a Classic .

One of Kubrick's most underrated films (along with Barry Lyndon). James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon and Peter Sellers all excel in here. The movie may be way toned down from the novel, but even so, the subject matter is still quite unsettling...a middle-aged man infatuated with a minor. Without giving away any spoilers, let's just say that in this type of story, it doesn't exactly have a fairy-tale finale. Strongly recommend it.

Still one of the all time best

James Mason perfectly captures Nabokov's Humbert Humbert's (aka the "Professor") delusional obsession with sexy American twelve-year old Dolores Haze (aka "Lolita") in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film adaption of Nabokov's famous novel ("Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins"). He plays his landlady Charlotte Haze's (Shelley Winters) fascination with Humbert Humbert's erudite European sophistication (a dryly funny parody of Nabokov himself) in order to groom young Lolita for the darkly illicit plans he has for her future. Their eventual road trip together is like nothing in contemporary literature or film. Only Luchino Visconti's film version of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (1971), with Dirk Bogarde playing Mann's elderly aesthete Gustav von Aschenbach, compares in unveiling the hollow inner emotional life of the classic sexually-repressed European intellectual. Kubrick has taken other novels (some famous, some not so famous) for his films, in each case varying the genre: Anthony Burgess' famous dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange; Arthur C. Clarke's less-known 1951 short story The Sentinel for Kubrick's sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey; Gustav Hansford's little-known short story about US Marine recruits The Short Timers for Kubrick's (subtly antiwar) film Full Metal Jacket; and the mostly unknown psychological study of the 1926 novella Traumnovelle (Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler for his final film Eyes Wide Shut. In each case, Kubrick's film is lucid and compelling, and true to the spirit of the novelist's story, even if the film varies in significant ways from the underlying novel.

Good movie. It is everything people have said for the last 60+ years. Still worth watching.

It goes without saying that the book is better than the movie, but I just had to say it anyway because it's so true. There are a ton of great reviews of the movie here on Amazon so I'll be brief. 3 Stars were given becuase of the very fine acting, especially Shelly Winters. Winters portrays almost exactly the Charlotte Haze that I had envisioned in my mind when reading the book. Sue Lyon does a fine job as Dolores even though she looks nothing at all like how I pictured Lolita in my mind, she's too pretty. My main gripe about the movie is the incessant fading to black after every scene and the constant appearances of Quilty! The most annoying scene in the entire movie is when Quilty comes out to talk to Humbert at the hotel. In the movie Peter Sellers goes on a long strange ramble that makes very little sense and was a little annoying to me. However, this scene in the book, when the understandably paranoid Humbert is biding his time waiting for his drugged nymphet to finally go unconscious is surprised to find another guest on the patio with him, is one of my very favorite scenes in the book. The artful way that Nabokov has our "poor Humbert" mis-hear the casual conversation of his fellow guest was truly a master work of literature, the movie totally botched this scene! OK movie of a great book...

Very great blu ray quality considering the time with a brilliant soundtrack that sounds crisp and clear. I don't mind it being black and white but it would have been cool if there was a colored version available. Despite being the first version of the film, it more or less strays from the book at times to make it a more modest and family oriented film. This by no means makes the film bad though as it gets many things right from the original book. I've never seen the remake that was done in the 90s but I hear that it's more raunchier and follows the book almost perfectly. Still for what it's worth the acting in this version of the film is amazing ending with such sorrow making the 1962 version such a classic and great film!