Kubrick magic in the making:

NichoIaon'a deranged
caretaker ]ack Torrance turna
on hia wifeWendy (8heIIey
DuvaII) in the OverIook HoteI.
Hyateria,madneaa,
geniua... Thirty yeara
aince principaI
photography wrapped,
]ack NichoIaon recaIIa the
intenaity,exhiIaration and
exhauation of making
The 8hining with hia
friend,8tanIey Kubrick:
'Hia work wiII noI fade...'
AII work and no pIay... AII work and no pIay...
]ack NichoIaon on the making of The 8hining
B
et thia ia fun for you,'aaya
]ack NichoIaon.'Hearing
atoriea about 8tanIey?'
The atar aita, amoking
a CameI cigarette in hia
louse on Mullolland Diive, ligl aLove
Ios Angeles.
¨! mean... eveiyLody µisses and moans
a lillle Lil, no mallei wlal, Lul ! liked lle way liked
le woiled. You jusl gel used lo lle ilyllm:
you`ie wailing loi louis, wlile le`s gelling
eveiylling lil, llen wlen you slail woiling,
you work. And llal`s lun loi an acloi.¨
He µauses. Pulls. ¨! don`l lnow il ! could
do 100 lales liying lo Liing somelling
aLsolulely new lo il eveiy lime ! lile lo
llinl ! could Lul wlen you do llal many
liying lo gel his lling iigll, somelow, you
lnow, il`s a lillle Lil easiei.¨
Þiclolson slol lis lasl Slining scene in
Aµiil, 1979. Tle sµiing `78 slool oiiginally
scleduled loi 17 weels al Llsliee Sludios
lad oveiiun somewlal... ¨!l was exlausling,¨
le says. ¨Þo douLl aLoul llal!¨
Slill, le smiles. Þol lle Lig, 1acl¹ giin
(llougl il will aµµeai ollen duiing oui
90-minule clal), Lul a smile ol alleclion. His
sunglasses aie on lle laLle, Ly lle aslliay.
Condensalion misls lis glass ol walei, as
memoiy does lis eyes. ¨! miss lim, you lnow'
You miss llose µlone calls you used lo gel.¨
Þiclolson is al lome, Lul nol on lome
luil. ¨!`ve nevei ieally done an inleiview wleie
! wasn`l selling a µicluie,¨ le says. ¨!l`s a lol
Thia picture: 8tanIey Kubrick
focuaing hia truated ArrifIex
35 for the bathroomacene
in which Torrance meeta hia
murderoua1920a forebear,
DeIbert Orady. Right:
Prepping a acene in the
OverIook maze with
cinematographer and Iong-
time coIIaborator, ]ohn AIcott.
easiei wlen you`ie nol dealing will someLody
wlo you love: you love lis woil, you love
eveiylling aLoul lim. !l`s nol easy lo do.
And you don`l wanl lo missleµ. You lnow,
lle minule you`ie lalling aLoul llis guy,
! exµecl limlo come inlo lle ioom!¨
!l KuLiicl gone len yeais now, on Maicl
7, 1999 weie lo wall inlo Casa del 1acl,
le`d lind an unsuiµiisingly immaculale aLode.
!uiniluie llal lools so exµensive you don`l
wanl lo sully il Ly silling down. Painlings
Ly modein masleis and Þiclolson limsell.
A slell slacled will an ecleclic seleclion ol
well-llumLed Lools, liom weiglly lisloiical
woils lo aiiµoil lliilleis. And, Ly lle coucl,
lwo volumes wlicl sµeal lo dilleienl lacels ol
Þiclolson, and would no douLl aµµeal lo Loll
lle ailislic and eailly eye ol lle diiecloi Lelind
2001 and Lyes Wide Slul: !ame & !iame,
a collee-laLle lome liomiconic celeLiily-
snaµµei Pal Yoil (naluially, Þiclolson is in il),
and, Leside il, Tle Big Bool Ol Bieasls.
Walcl Vivian KuLiicl`s access-all-aieas
documenlaiy aLoul lle maling ol Tle
Slining and lle µicluie ol lei lallei llal
emeiges is nol llal ol a wild-eyed eccenliic,
slaLLing al lle aclois will an inlelleclual
iaµiei. !l`s ol, well, a Llole.
¨Yeal, aLsolulely,¨ says Þiclolson.
¨! mean, yes, le lives a unique lile, le`s
conslanlly woiling in some way oi anollei...
Bul lile will Viv: le adoied lei. His ollei
daugllei was woiling in lle ail deµailmenl,
! llinl (Kubrick´s siep-daughier, Kaiharina,
was a locaiions researcher on The Shining),
and le was veiy lind ol luggy and musly
will lle lids. You lnow, le was a Llole, as
you say. He was a Llole wlo lad iion µiinciµles
aLoul woiling. He was lully inlo il llal`s
nol news! Lul il was lascinaling lo oLseive.
Bul... a veiy good liiend ol mine; llal`s lle
way ! lool al Slanley.¨
K
ubrick firat approached
NichoIaon after aeeing him
in Eaay Rider, with a view
to caating him aa NapoIeon.
'I'd known 8tanIey before
le wenl lo Lngland,¨ iecalls Þiclolson. ¨He
was liiends will a liiend ol mine, wlo was also
a µlologiaµlei al 1ook ( 1ook ihe lifesiyle naga:ine
io which Kubrick coniribuied fron 1945 io 1951),
and we lad lalled a lol aLoul Þaµoleon. Tlal`s
wlen we gol close...¨
Tle gieenligll nevei came, Lul lley slayed
in loucl. Tlen KuLiicl asled limlo µlay 1acl
Toiiance, lle anli-leio ol Sleµlen King`s 1977
Leslsellei aLoul a wannaLe novelisl wlo lales
a caielaling joL al lle iemole Oveilool Holel.
And goes insane. ¨Slanley and ! only lad
a couµle ol discussions aLoul lle Lool. Tle
only lling we disagieed aLoul was llal ! wanled
lle sexualily ol lle claiaclei in lleie as well,
Lecause !`mllinling, `!`ll scaie lle µanls iigll
oll eveiyLody will llis!`¨
KuLiicl demuiied. ¨He said le wouldn`l
wanl il. And ! wanled, ! llinl, 1essica Iange
[lo µlay Toiiance`s wile, Wendy], Lecause
sle seemed lile lle claiaclei in lle Lool lo
me. And llis was gieal llis was wly oui
discussions weie always veiy sloil, Lecause
le lnows. He lnows lis slull! He said, `Well,
no, ! wanl Slelley Duvall`.
Þiclolson laugls.
¨! said, `Slelley Duvall'! Wlal`s lle idea,
Slanley'` And le says, `Well, you golla lave
someLody in llal µail llal mayLe lle audience
would also lile lo lill a lillle Lil!`¨
Anollei llioaly, smole-lilled caclle.
¨! said, `Olay!` Because you can`l lave
BamLi in llal µail. He was aliaid lle µicluie
would Le loo liigllening, quile lianlly. He said,
`You can`l scaie µeoµle loo mucl in a µicluie.`
! don`l agiee will llal µiemise, Lul ! undeisland
il.¨He µauses, and lis voice lales a devilisl
lone. ¨And ! don`l need lo do
sex in a µicluie, ceilainly nol
llal one, Lul ! jusl lell ! could
scaie µeoµle a loi!¨
Sexualily sliiµµed oul,
Tle Slining slill slocled
audiences and eslaLlisled ilsell
as a loiioi classic uµ lleie
will Rosemaiy`s BaLy and Tle
Lxoicisl (lwo µicluies KuLiicl
admiied) al lle zenill ol lle
genie. Tle Academy, llougl,
ignoied il, wlile nol all lle
ciilics weie lind. 1arieiy, loi
one, slaled llal KuLiicl and Þiclolson lad
leamed uµ ¨lo deslioy eveiylling llal was so
leiiilying aLoul Sleµlen King`s Leslsellei¨.
¨He nevei gol good ieviews, exceµl loi lis
anli-wai movies,¨says Þiclolson. ¨! was always
inleiesled in lis ielalionsliµ will ciilics, wlo
always iaµµed lis µicluies oiiginally and llen
lliee monlls lalei lley iealised lley`d seen lle
giealesl lilmlley`d seen in a wlile. ! always
wondeied wly llal was, Lecause, ei, you lnow,
we nevei lad any µioLlems lnowing Slanley`s
movies weie gieal!¨
Tle qualily ol lle µicluie, ils ielenllessly
menacing almosµleie, lyµnolic giace, lle
ielalaLle leais ol wlal KuLiicl called ¨jusl lle
sloiy ol one man`s lamily quielly going insane
logellei¨weie evidenl lo audiences. Ceilain
scenes and µliases Lecame almosl inslanlly
iconic, lo lle µoinl llal walcling Tle Slining
loi lle liisl lime can elicil deja vu Lecause il las
Leen so endlessly aµed and µaiodied. !l`s also
Lecome somewlal suLsumed Ly lle legend
ol KuLiicl, lle voluminous sloiies aLoul lis
meiciless woiling mellods, iullless locus
and dizzying eccenliicily.
¨Ol, all lle idiosyncialic llings and lle
sloiies, llose aie all µielly mucl iuLLisl,¨ says
Þiclolson. ¨Riding aiound will a lelmel on in
lle cai'¨ He sigls. ¨Iool, le
doesn`l lile lo diive, Lul he
drives.
He doesn`l lile lo lly, Lul he
flies! And, you lnow, lo
me, le was an ullimalely
claiming man. We lad
so many dilleienl inleiesls in
common llal we`d lall
aLoul. He liles Loxing
we lall aLoul liglls.
Oi a µicluie, le`d come
along, `Have you seen
il'` He used lo send
me llings liomLnglisl lelevision. He loves
animals. You lnow, le is...
¨`!s`...¨ Þiclolson µauses, suddenly awaie
le leeµs ieleiiing lo lis long-dead liiend in lle
µiesenl lense. ¨! can`l... ! slill can`l.¨He sigls.
And 1acl Þiclolson doesn`l ciy nol in lionl
ol a jouinalisl, al leasl Lul loi a momenl, il
seems le`s going lo. ¨We lalled loievei.¨
Tlis is Þiclolson`s loll loi Leing cinema`s
ullimale suivivoi. He`s µailied longei and
laidei and lived a legion dieams, Lul las lad
lo see liiends sliµ away. !l`s lle luman side ol
Tle Slining, uncanny lo leai aLoul, Lecause
lle µioduclion is widely llougll ol as one
ol lle mosl giuelling slools evei comµleled.
Tleie is ceilainly lle sense, walcling lle
movie, llal you aie aclually seeing µeoµle lose
lleii minds Duvall lools lile sle`s laving
a genuine neivous Liealdown.
¨He Leal Slelley inlo llal µeiloimance.
Sle`s lanlaslic, in my oµinion,¨ says
Þiclolson. ¨By `Leal il oul`, ! mean, le`s
nol a Mellod diiecloi: `Come on Slell,
jusl...` ! called il lle louglesl joL llal any
acloi llal !`ve seen lad, Lecause 40 µei cenl
ol llal µicluie, sle`s lysleiical. And wlen
lle slooling scledule is llal long: imagine
monlls and monlls and nonihs, as an acloi,
'I miaa 8tanIey,
you know? The
minute you atart
taIking about
thia guy, you
expect him
to come into
the room.'
Thia picture: Kubrick
acopea out a ahot for
Torrance'a encounter with
LIoyd the bartender. Left:
The aweeping front haII
of the OverIook HoteI waa
created at EIatree 8tudioa.
lysleiia. `Come on Slell, we can`l wail mucl
longei!`¨He laugls. ¨Sle didn`l seemlo mind
il, Lul ! llougll, `Slil, man, il llal was me,
! don`l lnow wlal ! would do. ! do nol. ! slill
wondei. You`ie suµµosed lo Le aLle lo do il,
Lul loi loui nonihs' Bul sle did. Sle`s Liillianl
in lle movie.¨
Þiclolson ol couise lad lis own
momenls ol lysleiia lo convey and wlile le
sµeals londly ol lle exµeiience, lis sunglasses
aien`l enliiely iose-linled. ¨Ol, le`s lougl
al woil, le ieally is lougl, le`s down lo lle
µiµes, you lnow' !l is leclnically demanding.
He lad llis lling will Llue dols. !n llal dieam
sequence, ! lad lo dioµ oul ol a claii and lil
Llue dols loi my leel, my lnee... !l was lle
only lime le scaied me, Lecause ! did il and
llen lle nexl day le came in le`s so Llunl,
somelimes nexl day le came in and says,
`!`mgoing lo lave lo do llal again.` ! said,
`Wly, wlal`s going lo laµµen'` He said, `! jusl
didn`l Lelieve il`.¨ Þiclolson sways in lis seal.
¨! wenl, `Ol, slil!` ! almosl collaµsed! `! didn`l
Lelieve il'` My God!¨
Reslooling lle scene didn`l lale as long as
Þiclolson leaied, llougl le slould µioLaLly
Le gialelul KuLiicl lived and woiled in lle \K,
wleie lle unionised ciews leµl lle woiling
louis ieasonaLle. ¨Tle union lad lo vole il you
weie going lo slool oveilime, and eveiy lime
Slanley would come ovei and say, `Tley`ie nol
going lo give il lo me, lley nevei give
il lo me! Tley nevei vole lo do oveilime.`
!l diove limciazy!
¨! always llougll lle uniqueness ol
Slanley in iealily was lle longei il lool,
lle Lellei le liled il. Tlis is unique in lle
movie Lusiness and le`s unique.¨
K
ubrick may not have been,
in NichoIaon'a worda,
'a Method director', but he
rehearaed extenaiveIy with
the actora, tapping them for
ideas. ¨Tleie`s lieedom ol inleiµielalion. He
does diaw on lle aclois. One scene, le said,
`Well, wlal aie you going lo Le doing in leie'`
! said, `You lnow, Slanley, lle lunny lling
is, wlenevei !`m in a Lig Luilding wleie you
wouldn`l oidinaiily Le alone, ! lile lo do
somelling lile lliow a Lall... And le goes,
`Tliow a Lall! Gieal!` He goes loi llal
immedialely... Wlen ! gave limlle Lall idea,
! didn`l iealise !`d Le lliowing il loievei: unlil
my aim was µiaclically dioµµing oll!¨
Þiclolson`s own lile µiovided lle luel loi
one ol lle mosl inlense scenes, wlen Toiiance is
sliuggling will lis wiiling and luiiously Leiales
lis wile loi inleiiuµling lis concenlialion. !l`s
a momenl lalen liomlle acloi`s own lile
a llinly liclionalised iendeiing ol lle day llal
deslioyed lis maiiiage lo Sandia Knigll.
¨Ol yeal, llal scene was lle day ! gol my
divoice. ! lold Slanley aLoul wlal lad laµµened,
and le incoiµoialed il inlo lle µic. ! was doing
lwo joLs: one was wiiling a movie and lle ollei
was acling in a movie and, Loy, wlen you`ie in
llal silualion... !`msilling in lleie llinling and
lle lovely Sandia came in (she and Nicholson
renain friends, nore ihan 40 years afier ihey splii
up) and ! liealed oul, lile you saw in lle movie.
So ! could ielale lo llal. ! saw il in lle Lool.
come uµ will il oll-lle-cull, wlicl conliasls
will lis memoiy now.
¨Þo. Dilleienl. ! imµiovised all lle `lillle
µig` slull. And !`d Leen a liieman (Nicholson was
once a volunieer fire narshal), wlicl gave us an once a volunieer fire narshal once a volunieer fire narshal
advanlage: ! lnew low lo Lieal inlo a dooi
il ain`l llal easy! Wlen ! iead il, il was in llis
µeiiod wleie ! walcled no lelevision, ! mean
! lnew 1olnny Caison, Lul !`d nevei ieally...
! didn`l lnow wlal il meanl: `Here´s Johnny...`
Slanley lound il insane llal an Ameiican didn`l
lnow wlal llis aclually was coming liom. Bul,
no, ! didn`l imµiovise il: ! llinl llal was always
wiillen, Lul lle iesl ol lle scene was lind ol
imµiovised: `Iillle µigs...`¨
And oll lle µage, KuLiicl also µiovided
moie unusual insµiialion loi Þiclolson. ¨We
weie going lo lle scene will lle decomµosing
woman,¨says Þiclolson, ieleiiing lo µeilaµs
lle mosl liouLling momenl in a movie lull ol
llem, wlen lis claiaclei emLiaces a naled
Leauly in lle Lallioom, only loi lei lo
liansloim inlo a iolling, mulilaled cione. ¨And
!`min my ioomand le comes in. `Come `eie,
1acl.` ! said, `Wlal'` He`s gol a Liown µaµei Lag.
!`mllinling, `Wlal lle lell is llis'` And le says,
`MayLe you don`l wanl lo lool al llis, Lul il
! slowil lo you, don`l lell anyLody else aLoul llis.`
And il was all llese monslious moigue µlolos!
He says, `!l`ll clange youi lile loievei!` Bul lle
way le did il, il could lave Leen nauglly µicluies!
Wlen le gels exciled, le`s quile amusing...¨
N
ichoIaon aparka up
another cigarette ÷
hia third or fourth. Hia
aaaiatant waIka in, aware
the interview ahouId have
linisled some lime ago. Sle glances al lim,
¨You aliigll'¨
¨Yeal,¨ le says, sliugging. ¨!l`s Slanley, you
lnow' We`ie clalling aLoul Slanley.¨ He luins
Lacl, laugls. ¨!`ll lell you, le did noi wanl lo
Le called `Slan Tle Man`! So my iesµonse was
lo give lima Caidinals jaclel will Musial`s
numLei on il (Sian 'The Aan´ Ausial is one
of baseball´s greais, playing for ihe Si. 1ouis
Cardinals for 20 years). ! douLl le evei woie il!¨
Þiclolson laugls again. Tlen llinls on
and le`s oll lis mind moving iound
a mazy memoiy, lace animaled, aims aloll,
moie laugllei, smiles. You can`l, daien`l,
! mean, lle claiaclei is named 1acl...¨
So lle sliuggle will lle Llanl µage and
domeslicily was easy loi Þiclolson lo ielale
lo, Lul le ciedils KuLiicl will lle senlence
lyµed in dilleienl layouls, loi µage allei µage
allei µage llal loims Toiiance`s `novel` and
sluns lle viewei will lle iealisalion lle lallei
is comµlelely insane: ¨All woil and no µlay
males 1acl a dull Loy.¨
¨Tlal was lle lling le added lo lle
scieenµlay and il`s one ol lle mosl genius ideas,¨
says Þiclolson. ¨! mean, scieenwiiling doesn`l
jusl laµµen, and somelimes il`s small, il`s one
senlence oi one desciiµlion, Lul wlen you see
il. Iool low slocling llal is! Biillianl. And
he came uµ will llal µailiculai conceµl.¨
Tle ollei mosl liequenlly quoled line liom
lle movie as Toiiance µiesses lis lace lo an
axe-sµlinleied dooi and leiiilies lis lamily will
a scieamol, ¨Heeeie`s 1olnny!¨ is a iill on lle
sludio announcei`s inlioduclion lo lle losl ol
lle 1olnny Caison slow; al llal slage a culluial
inslilulion in Ameiica. !l was also aLsenl liom
lle novel and las Leen widely ciediled will
laving Leen imµiovised. !n lacl, Folling Sione
quoled Þiclolson al lle lime as saying le lad
'The Ionger he took, the better
he Iiked it. It'a unique in the movie
buaineaa and 8tanIey ia unique.'
THE BBRNINOSECRETA drama about
a boy who diacovera hia mother ia having
an affair thenheIpa her cover it up, thia
earIy Kubrickproject waa abandoned due
to funding and cenaorahip concerna.
THE THEFTBaaed on'gentIeman thief'
Herbert Emeraon WiIaon'a biography I 8toIe
16 MiIIion DoIIara, theacript waa deveIoped
under a production deaI with Kirk DougIaa'
company. And DougIaa didn't Iike it.
ONE-EYED ]ACKSKubrick waa hired to
reworkand direct 8am Peckinpah'aWeatern
acript, onIyto eventuaIIyfeeI aomewhat
reIieved whenthe mercuriaI BrandoquietIy
fired him and directed thepicturehimaeIf,
with dubioua reauIta.
BLBEMOVIE OO After hia 8trangeIove acribe
Terry 8outhernahowed him a pornographic
movie, Kubrick muaed on makingan expIicit
aex fiIm with A-Iiat atara and production vaIuea
÷ but eventuaIIy decided he waan't auited to
theaubject.
NAP NN OLEONWho knowa what appeaIed to
Kubrick about the atoryof a megaIomaniacaI
perfectioniat bIeaaed with geniua...? A paaaion
project, the biopic camecIoaeat to reaIiaation
in theearIy '70a with NichoIaon, but financiera
bauIked after feIIow Bonaparte bIockbuater
WaterIoo bombed.
FOBCABLT BCABL BCABL ¹S PENDBLBM Kubrick tried to
buy the righta to UmbertoEco'a noveI about
three bookeditora who decide,aa a joke, to
invent agIobaI conapiracy theory. Diaappointed
with ]ean-]acquea Annaud'a 1986 adaptation of
The Name Of The Roae, Eco turned him down.
PERFBME The Patrick 8üakindnoveI about
a naaaIIygifted paychopathwaa conaidered by
Kubrick,but he diacovered it had been optioned
eIaewhere. EventuaIIy fiImed byTom Twyker.
ARYAN PAPER PP S An adaptationof Louia
BegIey'a noveIWartime Liea,about a ]ewiah boy
who runa away with hia aunt when theNazia
invade PoIand.KubrickIong deaired to make
a movie aet during and about theHoIocauat and
got aa far aa acouting Iocationa,before deciding
to concentrateagainon...
A.I.ART RR IFICIALINTELLIOENCE
Kubrick'a Iong-in-geatation adaptation of
theBrian AIdiaa ahort atory 8uper-Toya Laat
AII 8ummer Long ÷and Pinocchio ÷ waa
eventuaIIy, foIIowing Kubrick'a death,
fiImed byanother manwitha beard.
Before The 8hining, Kubrick wanted NichoIaon to pIay NapoIeon
in a fiIm that never roIIed. It waa in good company...
UNMADE KUBRICK
Thia picture: AII amiIea aa
]ack and 8tanIey watch
the ruahea. Right: Kubrick
fiIming with hia handheId
camera. BeIow:Watching
pIayback with Danny LIoyd.
slouldn`l inleiiuµl.
¨`Cause, you lnow: il`s sliange lo llinl ol il
as a µlaylul almosµleie, Lul il you could see lle
ciew... Tley all woiled will limall lle lime
and lley quil somelimes, loi wlalevei ieason
Lul, you lnow, lleie`s llis douLle lling, lleie`s
somelling misclievous aLoul il. Tley`ie lle
ones wlo cieale all lle sloiies ol low Mi.
Genius oideis 15 Vollswagens lo Le sliµµed
lo !ieland lo save money and llen lley`ie slolen!
Tley love lo Ledevil lim. Tley all adoie lim,
lell a million sloiies aLoul lim, and llen lley`ie
luiious and lley quil. Because le`s lougl, le`s
lougl on sel. ! mean, le don`l mince woids...
¨! iememLei wlen Scalman (Croihers, who
plays hoiel chef Dick Hallorann and had worked
wiih Nicholson on ihree previous filns) was uµ
doing a scene, ! saw Slanley in lle dail, walling
along le`d closed down lle sludio, nol jusl
lle sel Lul lle sludio! ! said, `Wlal'` And le
says, `He can`l iememLei!` And le was aLoul lo
gel mad al me, Lecause ! iecommended Scalman
and le was uµ lo aLoul lale 70. Slanley was
down lleie slaling lis lead. ! lold lim,
`Scalman las liouLle iememLeiing lines, Lul
wlen le gels il, you lnow... Tlis claiaclei is
wiillen loi Scalman!` And le said, `Goddamn
il!` and ! said, `Well, Slanley, lel me asl you
a queslion: lnowing wlal llis is, would you slill
casl lim'` And le said (begrudgingly), `Yeal...`
¨And Scalman: le loved il. He`d nevei Leen
lo Lngland. He aiiived al lle aiiµoil and ! gel a
call, lle unil man: `Scalman won`l go lo lle lolel
llal we wanl lim lo slay in. He says, ¨Tale me
wleievei 1acl`s slaying!¨` So le came lo lle
Savoy and, !`ll nevei loigel il, il was lale and le
wanled lo eal and lley came uµ will lle lull
silvei seivice, and le lad on llis immaculale
sill ioLe and Llacl µyjamas and ! lad llis
µeilecl slol: ! could aclually see Big Ben in lle
miiioi Lelind lim. Heie`s lle iconic Scalman,
will, lile, nine Llocls ol silvei in lionl ol lim,
silling lleie and le jusl looled uµ al me and
le was ciying. ! said, `Wlal is il, Scalman'` He
said, `Þo, llese aie leais ol joy 1acl, leais ol
joy.` And !`ll nevei... Tle image was so µeilecl,
`cause le µlayed Big Ben (in Billie Holiday
biopic 1ady Sings The Blues). And Scalman,
le loved Slanley...¨
T
he 8hining'a other atar
waa Danny LIoyd, aa the
Torrancea' unfortunate
aon: born with the tituIar
condition, the abiIity to read
olleis` minds, and lleieloie lo µeei willin
lis lallei`s insanily. Tle lille ol lle novel
aµµaienlly came liom lle cloius lo 1oln
Iennon`s song !nslanl Kaima, ¨We all sline
on...¨, Lul ils laµµy, liµµy genesis is laidly
iellecled on scieen, wleie Iloyd`s Liillianl
µeiloimance lis liisl and lasl slows lle
a ioLe langing lleie.` And le said, `Iool,
you don`l µlologiaµl iealily, you gel
a µlologiaµl llal males iealily. You
µlologiaµl lle µlologiaµl ol iealily...`¨
¨I beIieve IhaI ]ack is one oI Ihe besI acIors in
HoIIywood, perhaps on a par wiIh Ihe greaIesI
sIars oI Ihe pasI Iike Spencer Tracy and ]immy
Cagney. I shouId Ihink IhaI he is on aImosI
everyone's IirsI-choice IisI Ior any roIe which
suiIs him. His work is aIways inIeresIing,
cIearIy conceived and has Ihe X-IacIor, magic.
]ack is parIicuIarIy suiIed Ior roIes which
require inIeIIigence. He is an inIeIIigenI and
IiIeraIe man, and Ihese are quaIiIies aImosI
impossibIe Io acI. In The Shining, you beIieve
he's a wriIer, IaiIed or oIherwise."
÷ SIanIey Kubrick
Duiing lle slool, KuLiicl wanled lo µlay
cless will Þiclolson. He`d eained a ciusl
luslling in slieel games Lacl in lis youll. He
was good, Liillianl even. 1acl nevei µlayed lim.
¨Þo, le wanled lo, Lul eveiy lime ! lad a minule,
! was culling a µicluie acioss lle slieel (Goin´
Souih, his second as direcior). A lillle wlile allei
le senl me a comµulei cless game. He said,
`Gel ieady, in case we`ie on anollei µicluie.`¨
Tle µicluie nevei maleiialised. ¨! said,
`Slanley, you did !ull Melal 1aclel Lecause you
lnew ! wouldn`l live oul lleie will you and you
didn`l wanl lo woiiy aLoul a slai`s salaiy! He
laugled. Bul, you lnow, wlo lnew moie'¨
Tliily yeais since lley woiled logellei, len
since lis liiend`s deall, Þiclolson slill iegiels
llal lley didn`l do moie. He lales a long lool
down al lle laLle. ¨! don`l lnow il llis slould
Le in an ailicle, Lul ! lad lo conless lo a couµle
ol µeoµle llis lling... Wlen ! gol lle µlone call
aLoul Slanley laving µassed away...¨ Tleie is
anollei long µause. ¨My liisl llougll was nol,
`Ol, Slanley!` My liisl llougll was, `1uck! !`ll
nevei gel lo woil will limagain.` And ! lell so
guilly aLoul llis, ! lad lo conless il. Because le
was a good liiend. He was indisµensaLle. Tleie`s
no-one lile lim. ! mean, in lle lilm indusliy,
le`s lle guy wlose lilms all lle ollei diieclois
aie wailing lo see. Tlis guy was almosl always
ievolulionaiy. His woil will noi fade. Some
guys, lley`ie one ol [a lind]. You lnow, ! always
said llal aLoul Biando lley`ie lle Leginning
and lle end ol lleii own ievolulion. You can`l
ieally go neai il. Slanley is one ol llose lellows.¨
Þiclolson sluLs oul lis cigaielle. !sn`l he one
ol llose lellows, loo'
His slades aie Lacl on now. Oui lime is
diawing lo a close. He leans Lacl and µuls lis
lands Lelind lis lead, memoiies exoicised,
emolion Lacl in clecl. ¨Yeal, well...¨And
lleie il is again, loi a linal lime 1acl giins.
¨!`ve nevei seen a good imilalion!¨
condilion as mucl moie cuise llan Llessing.
¨Tlis lid was al leasl 30 yeais old, il seemed
lo me: le was an aslionaul among clildien!¨
says Þiclolson, wlo iecalls low KuLiicl
¨senl a guy oul lo scieen millions ol clildien¨
and low Iloyd landed lle µail Lecause le
came uµ will lle eeiie idea ol lwilcling lis
lingei, almosl lile a µuµµel, wlenevei Danny
Toiiance`s allei ego, Tony, sµeals. ¨\sually
you lave lo male some adjuslmenls loi clild
aclois,¨ says Þiclolson, ¨Lul nol will lim.¨
Tle scene wleie 1acl Toiiance lells Danny
le would lile lo slay in lle Oveilool Holel
¨loievei... and evei... and evei¨isn`l as celeLialed
as some, Lul il is loiiiLly clilling. Tleie`s lle
sense llal 1acl Loll claiaclei and µeiloimei
migll do anyihing; il musl suiely lave Leen
leiiilying loi lle clild. ¨! didn`l ieassuie lim
aLoul llal; le didn`l seemlo lave liouLle,¨says
Þiclolson. ¨!n lacl, ! use llose linds ol llings.
!l ! lad made llis lid lall down, collaµse and
Le unaLle lo woil loi lliee weels... !ine.
! mean, you`ie nol going lo, Lul il`s lle lun
ol Leing an acloi, you go way oul...¨
Þiclolson, ol couise, is nol simµly an
acloi (one ol lle giealesl lleie`s Leen) Lul
also a scieenwiilei and a diiecloi (nol one
ol lle giealesl lleie`s Leen, Lul sell-awaie,
a iaµacious ieadei and leiociously smail).
¨!`malways lleie lo leain,¨ le says. ¨Tlal`s
wly il`s dillicull loi me lo diiecl, Lecause !`ve
woiled will lle giealesl diieclois. Tleie`s
nol mucl ioom lell loi me lo Le oiiginal,
and somelimes ! liy loo laid lo do llal, Lul...
Tle way Slanley woils, lleie`s nolling lile
il. One ol lle giealesl llings ! don`l lnow
il ! slould µass llis on... ! guess so, ! nevei
lold Lacl inloimalion aLoul leclnique. !`m
looling al llis [sel-uµ] and, lnowing low
meliculous le is, ! said, `Slanley, wlal`s going
on oul leie' You lnow, llal soil ol lools lile
NichoIaon defenda Kubrick'a finaI, much-
maIigned movie, Eyea Wide 8hut
EYE8 RIOHT
'I don't think peopIe underatood EyeaWide
8hut. It often happena when Iate in a career,
a director decidea,'Now I'm going to do my
aexuaI picture.' And aometimea it doean't feeI
modern ÷ and 8tanIey waa aIwaya totaIIy
modern. The picture comea from [Arthur]
8chnitzIer'a Rhapaody: A Dream NoveI, which
he taIked to me about, that far back. He'd been
foIIowing the book and he'd aay,'Yeah, but
I can't find the ending.' That waa aIwaya how
the converaation ended.
'I know Tom Cruiae pIayed that exactIy
right: the way 8tanIey wanted it to be. It'a an
impeccabIe performance. ReaIIy good and
good caating ÷ NicoIe Kidman ia briIIiant, too.
Any criticiam anyone had of the picture, I couId
argue. I couId aay,'You're taIking about a
different thing.Thia ia what waa trying to do.'
'The anticipation aIao worked againat him.
When the picture waa coming out, nobody had
aaid,'Thia ia 8chnitzIer,' but I knew what he waa
working on.When he caIIed me [during the
ahoot], I aaid,'You found the ending, 8tanIey?'
He aaid,'Yeah, I did. I found the ending.''WeII,
what ia it?''You think I'm going to teII ?''