BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 173: Watch “Lolita” (1962)

One of the most controversial novels of the 20th Century was Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel, “Lolita.” In 1962, one of my favorite movie directors, the late Stanley Kubrick, produced a motion picture version of the book. I added it to my “bucket list” a few years ago and on Sunday, thanks to NetFlix, I finally watched it for the first time from start to finish.

Directed by Kubrick, the screenplay was written by Nabokov, Kubrick and James Harris. The cast included James Mason as Professor Humbert Humbert, Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze-Humbert, Peter Sellers as Clare Quilty and Sue Lyon as Dolores “Lolita” Haze. Lyon was 14 years old at the time the movie was filmed.

For those of you unfamiliar with the novel and movie, the main character if Humbert, a European academic who’s visiting American to lecture on French poetry. While looking for a room to rent, he has a case of love at first sight involving a teenage girl. To remain close to her, Humbert goes so far as to marry her widowed mother.

I know how the above must sound, but keep in mind that this is a 1960s movie based on a 1950s novel. It’s not nearly as bad as what you might have in mind, and I actually thought this movie was hilarious in parts. If you read about it on Wikipedia, you’ll find that the movie is classified as a “comedy-drama.”

As mentioned, this movie is based on Nabokov’s 1955 novel, and while I have a copy of the book somewhere, I’ve never read it. The novel is generally considered to be a classic of 20th Century literature and can be found on numerous “best of” lists. TIME magazine ranked it on its list of 100 best novels published between 1923 and 2005. The Modern Library also ranked it No. 4 on its list of 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century.

For some reason, I thought that another version of this movie was filmed in the 1970s or early 1980s staring Jodi Foster, but I guess I was thinking about “Taxi Driver.” The only other version of “Lolita” I found was a 1997 version directed by Adrian Lyne. This version was much more controversial and starred Jeremy Irons as Humbert and Dominique Swain as Dolores “Lolita” Haze. I haven't watch it.

Again, I’ve never read the novel, but I hear it’s much more controversial than the 1962 movie. According to the Internet Movie Database, the 1962 movie is very different from the book. One big difference between the two is that Quilty’s role is greatly expanded in the movie compared with the novel. Nabokov is said to, however, have greatly admired the movie version of his novel. I’ve got this novel on my “bucket list” as well, and I’ll probably get around to reading it eventually.

In the end, how many of you have watched 1962's “Lolita”? How many of you have read the novel? What did you think about them? Let us know in the comments section below.