Review of Lolita (1962) by Mark S — 15 Apr 2011

I haven't read the book but I can imagine it being a lot more provocative than this, which now seems quite tame. I think it's to the film's, Stanley Kubrick's and James Mason's credit that the obsession is still very tangible though; I've never seen Mason play slimy to this extent before and he clearly had a talent for it.

Peter Sellers is very memorable as Quilty, in his words, "a fantastic nightmare, part homosexual, part drug addict, part sadist...", a good pre-cursor to what he'd do with Kubrick in Dr.

Strangelove. And Shelley Winters was a master of the type of role she has here, a woman exuding both hope and desperation with great emotional vulnerability. As for Lolita herself, Sue Lyon is great in her first film role, and it's a shame she didn't live up to the early promise.