No, the rest of the week is no secret. Cliff is doing Paths of Glory, Emma’s got 2001, Jon’s doing The Shinning and Matt is doing The Killing, I believe.

No perhaps about it, Milligan was a comedic genius and he and the Goons were direct precursors to Monty Python, who insisted on casting him in Life of Brian when they discovered Milligan was on holiday in Tunisia where they were filming:

Spike Milligan had an unplanned cameo as a prophet ignored because his acolytes are chasing after Brian. By coincidence he was visiting his old World War II battlefields in Tunisia where the film was being made. The Pythons were alerted to this one morning and he was promptly included in the scene that just happened to be being filmed. He disappeared again in the afternoon before he could be included in any of the close-up or publicity shots for the film.

Have you actually read his war memoirs?

I might have to go back and rewartch Lolita, I’ve only seen it once and didn’t particularily care for it. Can’t exactly remember why with much clarity, but I’m assuming I didn’t find it humorous, if my overall reaction is anything like my reaction to the clip of Sellers and Mason linked above.

What are the rest of the movies for Kubrick Week, or is that a secret?

I never saw the Irons version but would like to. Frank Langella plays Quilty and Melaine Griffith plays Charlotte. It wasn’t well received though I’ve read that it is more fathful to the book. Weird, Adrian Lynne was a big Hollywood director–Flashdance, 9 1/2 Weeks, Fatal Attraction–and he’s only made one movie since he did Lolita. Maybe the taboo was still too strong. I’ve heard it’s humorless, too, but I’d be willing to give it a chance. Figure it’s a very different movie from the Kubrick one, though.

Peter Sellers was, of course, brilliant in almost everything…

Anyway, Lolita. I don’t think I ever saw it, after reading that it was overly comedic and even broad. The book is so great and so narrator-centric – kinda like “The Tell Tale Heart”, the voice is key – that I couldn’t imagine it being effectively adapted. I saw the Adrian Lyne version and it seemed pretty close (though oddly humorless), but still not in the same universe, really.

I didn’t watch this recently, how does the double-entendre hold up? Sometime, watching that verbal jujujitsu is amazing, sometimes, when it’s not done so well, it’s kinda funny.

I think this movie,if made now by the same people, would be even better. Because now, instead of the league of catholic whoevers putting pressure on you, you’d have the opposite expectation. Show it all! No need to hold back! A remake could flip it on it’s head. Using restraint and innuendo where we would expect explicit detail.

Never saw the jeremy irons version. Was it ANY, any good?

Great write up though. Very thorough.

My feeling watching that movie was that all the tension came from the innuendo. Once the cat was out of the bag, and its Humbert and the petulant Lolita on the run… who cares really. That movie was all about the forbidden cherry pie…

Sellers as Quilty was almost frightening, how many times does he say, “your lovely little girl” in that scene you posted?

Hands down, even in imperfection, one of the funniest and satirical movies made. Thanks again for your work.

It’s too bad in a way, that the movie can’t sustain it’s level throughout but easy for me to shake off because most of it gives me so much pleasure. I just discard that last part of the movie, and these days usually don’t watch the whole movie through to the end. Do the same thing with THE LADY EVE too. Just get the sweet stuff, skip the rest. LOL