Ephebophilia Adaptation
TITLE: Lolita
GENRE: Romatic Comedy with some tragedy stressed
CAST: Sue Lyon, James Mason, Shelley Winters and Peter Sellers
PLOT: A middle aged literature professor falls in love with a (jail bait) teen girl, the daughter of a woman he marries just to be near the teen. The mother keeps him and the girl apart which only serves to stress his fantasies about the daughter. So much so, that when the time and circumstances arrive that they can be together, he has overdwelt on the jail bait angle and becomes paranoid at any other relation the girl develops. He takes steps to keep her to himself which fail and he finally snaps and kills one of her former lovers who he's jealous of.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT:8.5 of 10; The story is presented in B&W which puts the viewer into a false sense of 'earlier times'.quite effectively. Though Stanley Kubrick, the Director, is one of the greatest at his profession, he chops the character development here for some unknown reason. But each actor does the roles he gives them expertly, saving the day. Shelly Winters is perfectly cast as the obsessive mother.
DVD BONUS: Nothing but a theatrical trailer which is strange because this movie was never promoted by the distributers in its lifetime due to its taboo subject matter (Ephebophilia is the love of post pubescent teens and their ability to engage in sexual activity)
ADDED NOTES: This is yet another shinning example of why Peter Sellers has to be considered one of the top comedic actors. His definition of the Quilty character in the beginning is of the highest order of inanity and lets the viewer know that a farce is being presented, not the tragedy we are apparently seeing. Brilliant!