Lolita (Kubrick 1962)

Stanley Kubrick explores the theme of sexual obsession in this darkly comic and deeply moving version of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. Drawing performances from his stars that rank among their career bests, Kubrick crafts a film that was notorious in its day - and is no less provocative today. James Mason plays devious, deluded Humbert: wedded to needy Charlotte (Shelley Winters); rivalled by the ubiquitous Clare Quilty (chameleonlike Peter Sellers); and enraptured to his gelatinous core by the blithe teen (Sue Lyon) with that lovely, lyrical, lilting name” - Lolita.