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

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 There's virtually no racial diversity, and outdated terms "colored" and "oriental" are used by White characters.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.

The first lines of the film:Humbert: Quilty! Quilty?Quilty: Ah, wha? Who's there?Humbert: Are you Quilty.Quilty: No, I'm... Spartacus. You come to free the slaves or sumpn?Humbert: Are you Quilty?Quilty: Yeah, yeah, I'm Quilty, yeah, sure.We all know Stanley Kubrick's Lolita.Many of us have been waiting for years for this cinema classic to be released in HD.This review will concentrateon the BR playback experience and not the narrative.I initially feared that both Lolita and Barry Lyndon were part of a hurried transfer to facilitatethe recently released "Kubrick Limited Edition Collection" on BR. Basically a quick cash-grabpackage from Warner Brothers. I was expecting a rushed transfer with a PQ that left muchto be desired.During playback, I was pleasantly awarded with a PQ that was consistently satisfying.The b&w images displayed clean edge detail, luminous whites, believable mid-tones and levels of gray, aswell as deep black levels. Great contrast throughout the whole feature with very minor crush on only the darkestof blacks.Keep in mind that both Lolita and Barry Lyndon BRs were not part of an extensive fullrestoration project. Instead they are the result of clean and deft transfers.The PQ's overall detail at 1080P was more than enough to fill a 52" XBR lcd screen with authority.Projecting the BR image to a 150" screen ( via Sony VPL-VW50 1080P projector ) was a major treat,with no noticeable loss of detail or contrast ( the inky blacks, crisp whites and endless gray levels with just enough filmgrain remaining. )The SQ was equally satisfying presented in DTS-HD master-audio 5.1.As with the Barry Lyndon BR release, my minor complaints:Only 1 SD trailer included in this single disc, no other supplementary material.Flimsy BR case with no inner card, a spartan treatment of a cinema masterpiece..5 stars for the film4 stars for PQ and SQ1 star for the packaginghalf star for supplementary materialNext year ( 2012 ) will be 50 years since Lolita was released.....could there be a 50th Anniversary BR edition with allthe supplemental goodies awaiting in the wings? Maybe the Criterion Collection will take a swing at bat on BR?Who knows, but for now at under $15, this BR version satisfies.BTW the last 2 films in Kubrick's canon will be available on BR Aug 16th! The Killing BR disc will contain Killers Kiss ( both remastered).Kubrick disowned Fear and Desire, so I think a transfer into BR for that title would be wishful thinking.

A great classic film.

Once upon a time, 50 years ago, major filmmakers could work on subjects beyond the pale of acceptability for today's suburban megaplex audiences. This story is about a middle aged man and a 14 year old girl, but it is not pornographic, it is not visually obscene and yet no major studio today would touch it. The acting is amazing: Shelley Winters is at her best and James Mason is playing more like Jack Nicholson than the usual authority figures he is known for elsewhere. Peter Sellers is as usual an enigma, surprising and almost too much for us to fully understand in the first viewing. This is one of those movies like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf that is very intellectual, aimed at audiences with subtle perceptions, and totally unimaginable in colour. If you like saucy acting in a plot light years apart from today's formulaic romantic comedies Lolita is for you. This film has the shock value of Psycho but the acting force and surprising plot of Network. This is not for kids and not for the weak minded....