Mid-20s Stanley Kubrick overseeing the old-time Hollywood pros on the set of The Killing. This $300,000 noir heist thriller lead United Artists to give Kubrick and Harris $900,000 to make Paths of Glory. $300,000 of that went to hire Kirk Douglas. The authenticity of the battle scenes and confidence in his compositions and the performances of his actors put this film on critics 10-best lists around the world. Kubrick was only 28 years old. Tweet // // ]]> Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // // ]]>
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Mid-20s Stanley Kubrick overseeing the old-time Hollywood pros on the set of The Killing.

This $300,000 noir heist thriller lead United Artists to give Kubrick and Harris $900,000 to make Paths of Glory. $300,000 of that went to hire Kirk Douglas. The authenticity of the battle scenes and confidence in his compositions and the performances of his actors put this film on critics 10-best lists around the world. Kubrick was only 28 years old.

Source: nakedfilmmaking.com

Script page from The Killing with Kubrick’s handwritten notes. In 1956, a 26-year-old Stanley Kubrick asked Jim Thompson to adapt Lionel White’s Clean Break. Retitled The Killing for the screen, it became Kubrick’s breakthrough movie. Thompson’s multi-narrative, tightly-wound script about a racetrack heist going wrong would resound down the years in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Jim also collaborated on Kubrick’s next venture, the World War I drama Paths of Glory. Tweet // // ]]]]> // ]]> Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // // ]]]]> // ]]>
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Script page from The Killing with Kubrick’s handwritten notes.

In 1956, a 26-year-old Stanley Kubrick asked Jim Thompson to adapt Lionel White’s Clean Break. Retitled The Killing for the screen, it became Kubrick’s breakthrough movie. Thompson’s multi-narrative, tightly-wound script about a racetrack heist going wrong would resound down the years in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Jim also collaborated on Kubrick’s next venture, the World War I drama Paths of Glory.

image

Kubrick sitting next to the Panavision 70mm camera for the scene on the space station with the Russian scientists. The wide-angle lens specially made for the Panavision 70mm camera which served to shoot the ultra-wide angle shots in 2001. It also shot the fish-eye point-of-view shots of the HAL 9000 computer by putting an extension tube between the rear of the lens and the Panavision camera’s lens mount. The lens in action. Look at how enormous that front element is in relation to the camera. This was necessary because 2001 was shot on 65mm film, which is twice as wide as standard 35mm film. The “T-AO” on the film magazine above the lens is for “Todd-AO.” The “AO” is for “American Optics.” Todd-AO was the format invented and used in the 1950s to shoot Around The World In 80 Days. It was owned by Mike Todd, then was inherited upon his death by his wife Elizabeth Taylor. This camera was also most likely used to film Cleopatra. The camera set up on an improvised dolly inside the Discovery centrifuge. This was probably the camera set-up for filming Gary Lockwood jogging around the centrifuge. Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond: One of the most-read article on Cinephilia and Beyond: The Making of Kubrick’s 2001 Tweet // // ]]> Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // // ]]>
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Kubrick sitting next to the Panavision 70mm camera for the scene on the space station with the Russian scientists.

The wide-angle lens specially made for the Panavision 70mm camera which served to shoot the ultra-wide angle shots in 2001. It also shot the fish-eye point-of-view shots of the HAL 9000 computer by putting an extension tube between the rear of the lens and the Panavision camera’s lens mount.

The lens in action. Look at how enormous that front element is in relation to the camera. This was necessary because 2001 was shot on 65mm film, which is twice as wide as standard 35mm film. The “T-AO” on the film magazine above the lens is for “Todd-AO.” The “AO” is for “American Optics.” Todd-AO was the format invented and used in the 1950s to shoot Around The World In 80 Days. It was owned by Mike Todd, then was inherited upon his death by his wife Elizabeth Taylor. This camera was also most likely used to film Cleopatra.

The camera set up on an improvised dolly inside the Discovery centrifuge. This was probably the camera set-up for filming Gary Lockwood jogging around the centrifuge.

Previously on Cinephilia and Beyond:

One of the most-read article on Cinephilia and Beyond: The Making of Kubrick’s 2001

Source: nakedfilmmaking.com

Random Kubrick momento mysteries and miscellaneous on reddit, r/StanleyKubrick/
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Random Kubrick momento mysteries and miscellaneous on reddit, r/StanleyKubrick/

Rare footage of Stanley Kubrick from The Peter Sellers Story UNCUT, a very rare 3 hour version: Holy shit, FOOTAGE. Kubrick’s at Pt 2 - 17:25, 17:33, 17:39 and 17:58. There are several quotes from Kubrick about Sellers, but read out by an American actor (referring to the part in the article in which it states you hear from Kubrick himself). Remarkable. Kubrick playing tennis in a suit. [via reddit] For the avid Sellers fan, this is the jackpot—the pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow. The Peter Sellers Story UNCUT: As He Filmed It, a very rare 3 hour version (not 90 min condensed rebroadcast version). Using a unique collection of his own home movies shot between 1948 and 1977 and discovered years after his death, this film presents an intriguing and intimate portrait of Peter Sellers. Told in his own words, and including many well-known personalities from Stanley Kubrick, Sophia Loren and Robert Wagner to members of the Royal Family, in particular Princess Margaret and Prince Charles, this revealing film builds a fascinating and definitive record of a unique genius. Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // Scoop.it
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Rare footage of Stanley Kubrick from The Peter Sellers Story UNCUT, a very rare 3 hour version:

Holy shit, FOOTAGE. Kubrick’s at Pt 2 - 17:25, 17:33, 17:39 and 17:58. There are several quotes from Kubrick about Sellers, but read out by an American actor (referring to the part in the article in which it states you hear from Kubrick himself).

Remarkable. Kubrick playing tennis in a suit.

[via reddit]

For the avid Sellers fan, this is the jackpot—the pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow. The Peter Sellers Story UNCUT: As He Filmed It, a very rare 3 hour version (not 90 min condensed rebroadcast version). Using a unique collection of his own home movies shot between 1948 and 1977 and discovered years after his death, this film presents an intriguing and intimate portrait of Peter Sellers. Told in his own words, and including many well-known personalities from Stanley Kubrick, Sophia Loren and Robert Wagner to members of the Royal Family, in particular Princess Margaret and Prince Charles, this revealing film builds a fascinating and definitive record of a unique genius.

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“Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write ‘War and Peace’ in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling.” —Stanley Kubrick Kubrick was honoured with the D.W. Griffith Award for lifetime achievement in 1997. The award, given by the Director’s Guild of America, has a prestigious history. Past winners include Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman and Sidney Lumet. Because Stanley was in the middle of production on Eyes Wide Shut, he recorded his acceptance speech and sent it to the DGA. The speech is extremely well-written. In fact, it may be the most insightful speech ever composed for a Hollywood award. However, Stanley’s stiff performance wasn’t necessarily on the same level as the text. Stanley’s wife, Christiane, remembers how Stanley prepared for the speech and how he felt after he saw it on T.V. All the essential documentaries on Stanley Kubrick, including Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001), Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (2008), A la Recherche de Stanley Kubrick (A. Michaux, F. Benudis 1999), The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove (2000), Cinefile: Stanley Kubrick - The Invisible Man (1996), Stanley Kubrick: Rare Dutch documentary, Without Walls: Forbidden Fruit (1993), Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil (2007), Making A Clockwork Orange, Rare 1960s Audio: Stanley Kubrick’s Big Interview with The New Yorker, Still Tickin’: The Return of A Clockwork Orange (2000), 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001), Making ‘The Shining’ (1980), Steven and Stanley, Remembering Stanley Kubrick: Steven Spielberg (Paul Joyce 1999), Barry Lyndon production, The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (2007), Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007), and Inside the Making of “Dr. Strangelove”. Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // Scoop.it
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“Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write ‘War and Peace’ in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling.” —Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick was honoured with the D.W. Griffith Award for lifetime achievement in 1997. The award, given by the Director’s Guild of America, has a prestigious history. Past winners include Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman and Sidney Lumet. Because Stanley was in the middle of production on Eyes Wide Shut, he recorded his acceptance speech and sent it to the DGA. The speech is extremely well-written. In fact, it may be the most insightful speech ever composed for a Hollywood award. However, Stanley’s stiff performance wasn’t necessarily on the same level as the text. Stanley’s wife, Christiane, remembers how Stanley prepared for the speech and how he felt after he saw it on T.V.

All the essential documentaries on Stanley Kubrick, including Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001), Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (2008), A la Recherche de Stanley Kubrick (A. Michaux, F. Benudis 1999), The Art of Stanley Kubrick: From Short Films to Strangelove (2000), Cinefile: Stanley Kubrick - The Invisible Man (1996), Stanley Kubrick: Rare Dutch documentary, Without Walls: Forbidden Fruit (1993), Full Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil (2007), Making A Clockwork Orange, Rare 1960s Audio: Stanley Kubrick’s Big Interview with The New Yorker, Still Tickin’: The Return of A Clockwork Orange (2000), 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001), Making ‘The Shining’ (1980), Steven and Stanley, Remembering Stanley Kubrick: Steven Spielberg (Paul Joyce 1999), Barry Lyndon production, The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (2007), Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007), and Inside the Making of “Dr. Strangelove”.

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Source: shawnswanky.com

Paths of Glory screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Jim Thompson [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only). In 1956, a 26-year-old Stanley Kubrick asked Thompson to adapt Lionel White’s “Clean Break.” Retitled The Killing for the screen, it became Kubrick’s breakthrough movie. Thompson’s multi-narrative, tightly-wound script about a racetrack heist going wrong would resound down the years in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Jim also collaborated on Kubrick’s next venture, the World War I drama Paths of Glory. In 1956, when Stanly Kubrick and producing partner James B. Harris secured the film rights to Lionel White’s caper novel Clean Break, it was Kubrick’s idea to recruit Thompson as his co-writer. “Are you familiar with a guy named Jim Thompson,” he asked Harris. “He’s a terrific writer who’s written some stuff I love.” Living in Sunnyside, Queens at the time, soft-spoken Jim Thompson was soon working with the budding maverick director. In 1957, when Harris-Kubrick moved to California, the Thompson family relocated to Hollywood Hills to be close to Stanley. Riding into the sun-drenched city on the train, they were met at the station by the director. “The writing of Paths of Glory was essentially a very well-paid part time job for Thompson,” reported biographer Michael McCauley in his 1991 book Sleep With the Devil. “With a burst of spirit and a bust of creativity, he wrote and sold two novels (The Kill-Off and Wild Town) that same year.” In actuality, Kubrick hired Thompson to rewrite the original draft penned by Calder Willingham. However, when their star Kirk Douglass read Thompson’s rewrite, he was appalled and reportedly threw the script across the room. Demanding that the Willingham’s version be reinstated, the final shooting script was credited to the two writers and director Kubrick. According to biographer Robert Polito, only seven scenes of Thompson’s made the final cut. Although Paths of Glory won the Directors Guild of America Award for best screenplay, with the exception of a few television shows and a failed attempt to adapt his novel The Getaway (star Steve McQueen didn’t like the script), Thompson’s screenwriting career stalled. —Cold Blood: On Jim Thompson and Stanley Kubrick Script pages for Paths of Glory with Kubrick’s handwritten notes: On the set of Paths of Glory, Kubrick watches the actors perform with his characteristic look of concentration: Tweet // // ]]>Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // // ]]>Scoop.it
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Paths of Glory screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Jim Thompson [pdf]. (NOTE: For educational purposes only).

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In 1956, a 26-year-old Stanley Kubrick asked Thompson to adapt Lionel White’s “Clean Break.” Retitled The Killing for the screen, it became Kubrick’s breakthrough movie. Thompson’s multi-narrative, tightly-wound script about a racetrack heist going wrong would resound down the years in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Jim also collaborated on Kubrick’s next venture, the World War I drama Paths of Glory.

In 1956, when Stanly Kubrick and producing partner James B. Harris secured the film rights to Lionel White’s caper novel Clean Break, it was Kubrick’s idea to recruit Thompson as his co-writer. “Are you familiar with a guy named Jim Thompson,” he asked Harris. “He’s a terrific writer who’s written some stuff I love.” Living in Sunnyside, Queens at the time, soft-spoken Jim Thompson was soon working with the budding maverick director.

In 1957, when Harris-Kubrick moved to California, the Thompson family relocated to Hollywood Hills to be close to Stanley. Riding into the sun-drenched city on the train, they were met at the station by the director. “The writing of Paths of Glory was essentially a very well-paid part time job for Thompson,” reported biographer Michael McCauley in his 1991 book Sleep With the Devil. “With a burst of spirit and a bust of creativity, he wrote and sold two novels (The Kill-Off and Wild Town) that same year.”

In actuality, Kubrick hired Thompson to rewrite the original draft penned by Calder Willingham. However, when their star Kirk Douglass read Thompson’s rewrite, he was appalled and reportedly threw the script across the room. Demanding that the Willingham’s version be reinstated, the final shooting script was credited to the two writers and director Kubrick. According to biographer Robert Polito, only seven scenes of Thompson’s made the final cut.

Although Paths of Glory won the Directors Guild of America Award for best screenplay, with the exception of a few television shows and a failed attempt to adapt his novel The Getaway (star Steve McQueen didn’t like the script), Thompson’s screenwriting career stalled. —Cold Blood: On Jim Thompson and Stanley Kubrick

Script pages for Paths of Glory with Kubrick’s handwritten notes:

On the set of Paths of Glory, Kubrick watches the actors perform with his characteristic look of concentration:

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the-overlook-hotel: The first page of Stephen King’s original screenplay adaptation of his novel, The Shining. Stanley Kubrick considered King’s screenplay, but soon decided that he would adapt the novel himself, with the collaboration of novelist Diane Johnson. A 1983 Playboy interview with Stephen King, about his young hungry days before he was published. In the same interview with Playboy in 1983, Stephen King stated: “The real problem is that Kubrick set out to make a horror picture with no apparent understanding of the genre. Everything about it screams that from beginning to end, from plot decision to the final scene — which has been used before on The Twilight Zone.” Yikes! Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // Scoop.it
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the-overlook-hotel:

The first page of Stephen King’s original screenplay adaptation of his novel, The Shining. Stanley Kubrick considered King’s screenplay, but soon decided that he would adapt the novel himself, with the collaboration of novelist Diane Johnson.

A 1983 Playboy interview with Stephen King, about his young hungry days before he was published. In the same interview with Playboy in 1983, Stephen King stated:

“The real problem is that Kubrick set out to make a horror picture with no apparent understanding of the genre. Everything about it screams that from beginning to end, from plot decision to the final scene — which has been used before on The Twilight Zone.”

Yikes!

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Nearly 40 years before his death and Eyes Wide Shut, director Stanley Kubrick spoke about his life and work. What led you into filmmaking? I was born in New York City, where my father was a doctor. My parents wanted me to become a doctor, and I was supposed to go to medical school, but I was such a misfit in high school that when I graduated I didn’t have the marks to get into college. But like almost everything else good that’s ever happened to me, by the sheerest stroke of luck, I had a very good friend at LOOK [magazine], which gave me a job as a still photographer. After about six months, I was made a full-fledged staff photographer. My highest salary was $105 a week, but I did travel around the country, and I went to Europe and it was a great thing. I learned a lot about people and things. And then I made a documentary film — the first one I made — called Day of the Fight [1951]. It was about a boxer called Walter Cartier and everything that happened on the day of a fight. I thought there was a great future in making documentaries, but I didn’t make any money on any of the documentaries I made. Then I made a feature, Fear and Desire [1953], and then Killer’s Kiss [1955]. That led to The Killing [1956] and my association with [producer] Jim Harris. We did Paths of Glory and Lolita together. What’s the best preparation for being a film director? Seeing movies. One of the things that gave me the most confidence in trying to make a film was seeing all the lousy films that I saw. Because I sat there and thought, Well, I don’t know a goddamn thing about movies, but I know I can make a film better than that. —Stanley Kubrick, The Artist Speaks for Himself Tweet // Follow @LaFamiliaFilm // Scoop.it
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Nearly 40 years before his death and Eyes Wide Shut, director Stanley Kubrick spoke about his life and work.

What led you into filmmaking?
I was born in New York City, where my father was a doctor. My parents wanted me to become a doctor, and I was supposed to go to medical school, but I was such a misfit in high school that when I graduated I didn’t have the marks to get into college. But like almost everything else good that’s ever happened to me, by the sheerest stroke of luck, I had a very good friend at LOOK [magazine], which gave me a job as a still photographer. After about six months, I was made a full-fledged staff photographer. My highest salary was $105 a week, but I did travel around the country, and I went to Europe and it was a great thing. I learned a lot about people and things. And then I made a documentary film — the first one I made — called Day of the Fight [1951]. It was about a boxer called Walter Cartier and everything that happened on the day of a fight. I thought there was a great future in making documentaries, but I didn’t make any money on any of the documentaries I made. Then I made a feature, Fear and Desire [1953], and then Killer’s Kiss [1955]. That led to The Killing [1956] and my association with [producer] Jim Harris. We did Paths of Glory and Lolita together.

What’s the best preparation for being a film director?
Seeing movies. One of the things that gave me the most confidence in trying to make a film was seeing all the lousy films that I saw. Because I sat there and thought, Well, I don’t know a goddamn thing about movies, but I know I can make a film better than that. —Stanley Kubrick, The Artist Speaks for Himself

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Source: reddit.com

The full oral history story of the making of Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece The Shining.

With thanks to Tim Pelan for sharing this video on his fantastic website: Cinetropolis. 

You may recall we previously brought you news of The Elstree Project, an oral history project designed to record, preserve and share the memories of people who have worked at the studios of Elstree and Borehamwood. Well, one of their interview docs, a 55 minute film on the making of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining has been uploaded to Vimeo, and we have it for you here. It features contributions from Christiane Kubrick, and nine crew members who worked on the film at Elstree.

Interviewed are:
Brian Cook – 1st AD
Jan Harlan – Producer
Christiane Kubrick – Wife of Stanley Kubrick
Mick Mason – Camera Technician
Ray Merrin – Post-Production Sound
Doug Milsome – 1st AC and Second Unit Camera
Kelvin Pike – Camera Operator
Ron Punter – Scenic Artist
June Randall – Continuity
Julian Senior – Warner Bros. Publicity

The interviews in this film were recorded over a period of three years, and with eight students getting the chance to gain live work experience as part of their undergraduate degree course in Film and Television in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire. The film has been made as part of The Elstree Project which is a partnership between Howard Berry of the University and Bob Redman and Paul Welsh MBE who run the volunteer group Elstree Screen Heritage. —Staircases To Nowhere: Making Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining

A 1983 Playboy interview with Stephen King, about his young hungry days before he was published. In the same interview with Playboy in 1983, Stephen King stated:

“The real problem is that Kubrick set out to make a horror picture with no apparent understanding of the genre. Everything about it screams that from beginning to end, from plot decision to the final scene — which has been used before on The Twilight Zone.”

Source: cinetropolis.net

A few days ago, I received out-of-print gem The Making of Kubrick’s 2001 (edited wonderfully by Jerome Agel, 1970). I’m still over the moon.

There have been countless words written about Stanley Kubrick’s visionary masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey — some good, some bad — but after 45 years, this superb book remains the only one you’ll ever really need. It is such a shame that this book is out-of-print. It is filled with everything you ever wanted to know about 2001. It leads off with Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “The Sentinel” and closes with a complete reprint of Stanley Kubrick’s interview with Playboy magazine. In between are profiles, interviews with technical advisors, effects secrets revealed, letters to Stanley from the moviegoing public, as well as reviews of the film, both good and bad. A fascinating snapshot of a moment in history when the world was caught off guard by a motion picture. Search your local used book stores, like I did. If you’re a Kubrick fan, it’s worth the effort.

Now you can join me, I’ll fly you to the moon!

The Making of Kubrick’s 2001
(NOTE: Attribution Non-commercial; For educational purposes only)

With endless thanks to Matt DeGennaro

Visual effects legend Douglas Trumbell on working with Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey

Select pages from the final shooting script of 2001: A Space Odyssey as exactly reprinted in the original version of the book The Making of Kubrick’s 2001 (edited wonderfully by Jerome Agel 1970—second printing, pg 165.)

With thanks to Matt Degennaro

The complete screenplay of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Typographically designed to read during watching the movie.

I just received this out-of-print gem. I’m over the moon!

It is such a shame that this book is out-of-print. It is filled with everything you ever wanted to know about 2001. It leads off with Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “The Sentinel” and closes with a complete reprint of Stanley Kubrick’s interview with Playboy magazine. In between are profiles, interviews with technical advisors, effects secrets revealed, letters to Stanley from the moviegoing public, as well as reviews of the film, both good and bad. A fascinating snapshot of a moment in history when the world was caught off guard by a motion picture. Search your local used book stores, like I did. If you’re a Kubrick fan, it’s worth the effort.

Coming soon to Cinephilia and Beyond.

With endless thanks to Matt Degennaro

This video is going to own the Internet. As he prepares to leave ISS & return home, astronaut Chris Hadfield records his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity.

With thanks to Philippe Theophanidis

The most terrifying fact of the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment.
 However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light. —Stanley Kubrick on Mortality, the Fear of Flying, and the Purpose of Existence: 1968 Playboy Interview