Lolita and the Troopers Convention
I was talking last week on the podcast about, among other things, the extras on the DVD of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. One of those sparked a connection that I’m ashamed about not getting sooner.First, look at this YouTube clip from Lolita. I’d embed it for you here, but the Podcast Network just doesn’t do YouTube. In the clip James Mason, who has kidnapped his underage inamorata Lolita and is transporting her across state lines, meets a chatty state trooper, played by Peter Sellers. It’s a high point of the film, because Sellers is so creepy.
I’ll tell you, that monolog of his about “being so normal and all” plays in my head almost all the time. Okay, maybe not, but it can be activated by anything. I often hear that voice.
Which is why I was so alert when I heard this voice.
There is a long audio-only interview with Stanley Kubrick on the DVD in which he talks about his career, his success at chess tournaments, a host of other things, and he has the same nervous giggle, the same obsessive manner, and the same peculiar New York patois.
It’s probably old news to some people that Sellars was doing Kubrick in that scene (who knows, maybe it was news to Kubrick, but I doubt that) but as for me, it’s a revelation. It sure as hell makes the interview a lot more entertaining.
-daniel k