'The Shining' Film On its 43 Year Anniversary
THE SHINING was released 43 years ago today. Not a huge success on its release, it has gone down as one of Stanley Kubrick’s most popular films and most influential horror movies ever made. The behind the scenes story is as outrageous as you might expect…
A THREAD
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- All The Right Movies (@ATRightMovies) May 23, 2023
- The Shining was released in cinemas 43 years ago today and remains one of the most influential horror movies of all time.
- Stephen King’s novel of the same title was published in 1977 and was a best-seller. Kubrick read it and loved it, calling the book, “one of the most ingenious and exciting stories of the genre I had read.”
- King had written a screenplay draft for the film but Kubrick completely ignored it, calling King's screenwriting "weak". He adapted the book himself with novelist Diane Johnson.
- Kubrick became infamous for his number of takes for one scene/shot, including:
Jack and Grady's bathroom scene - 80+ takes
The bedroom shot of Halloran - 60+ takes
The baseball bat scene on the stairs with Wendy and Jack, went into the Guinness World Records with a whopping 127 takes.
- The set was built at Elstree Studios in England, including the Colorado Lounge, the Gold Room, and the hedge maze. During filming, a fire broke out and destroyed the set for The Shining. It cost $2.5m to rebuild.
- For casting the lead Jack Torrance, Kubrick considered Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford and Christopher Reeve. He cast Jack Nicholson and said he’s “perhaps on a par with the greatest stars of the past like Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Cagney.”
- Kubrick cast Shelley Duvall as Wendy because he thought she had an, “eccentric quality,” and would be able to play the type of character that would put up with Jack’s tantrums. Kubrick’s on-set treatment of Duvall has become Hollywood legend (Hollywood legend for being awful, truly truly awful). She even suffered hair loss from the stress of filming The Shining. Even Jack Nicholson remarked that Kubrick treated the pair very differently. Despite all this, Duvall did say: "I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Why? Because of Stanley. It was such a fascinating experience. It was such intense work that I think it makes you smarter… But I wouldn’t want to go through it again"
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One of the most famous images is the Elevator of Blood. Because it could’ve caused problems, Kubrick planned it for an entire year and managed to get it in just three takes.
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- Stephen King famously does not like the film adaptation (and rightly so). He has said publicly that he wanted Jon Voight as Jack, instead of Nicholson. King also did not like how Wendy was portrayed in the film, calling it: "One of the most misogynistic characters. She’s there to scream and be stupid.” He has also called Kubrick's 'version': "a beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside".
- King said that through production Kubrick would call him, often in the middle of the night. One time, Kubrick called at 3am to ask, “Do you believe in God?” When King replied yes, Kubrick slammed the phone down yelling, “I KNEW IT!”
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Wendy knows all isn’t well with Jack when she finds what he’s been working on. The same line written again and again: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Kubrick’s assistant was Emilio D’Alessandro. He spent months at his typewriter.
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- The most famous scene is the smashing of the bathroom door with an axe. Kubrick shot it with a fake door but Nicholson broke it down far too easily. The scene took 30 days to film and in that time, Nicholson got through 60 doors, a rate of 2 per day.
- During this famous scene, Jack pokes his head through the wrecked frame and sneers, “Here’s Johnny!” Nicholson took the line from talk show host Johnny Carson. Because Kubrick was living in England at the time, he didn’t understand and almost removed it from the final cut before deciding to leave it in.
- The Shining opened to contempt in the U.S. in 1980, with some reviews from the time: Variety magazine said: “With everything to work with… Kubrick has teamed with jumpy Jack Nicholson to destroy all that was so terrifying about Stephen King’s bestseller.”
- The Shining received no Oscar nominations, but at the Razzies, Kubrick was nominated for Worst Director and Shelley Duvall received the honour of a Worst Actress nomination. Duvall’s nomination was rescinded in 2022.
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