Kubrick's Inspiration Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lionel White

Lionel White was an American journalist who also had a second career writing noir thrillers. His fifth novel, "Clean Break", was published in 1955. The same year, the rights to the novel were purchased by producer James Harris, on behalf of the production company he had recently formed with young director Stanley Kubrick. Having obtained the rights, Harris approached United Artists, who had also attempted to buy them, to finance a film version. United Artists agreed, and put up $200,000, with Harris supplying another £130,000.

The film, which was released in 1955 as "The Killing", failed at the box office, but gained significant critical acclaim, ending up in many of that year's top ten lists, establishing Kubrick's reputation with both critics and studio executives.

Answer: Humphrey Cobb

Humphrey Cobb worked in a number of different jobs following the First World War while pursuing his dream of becoming a professional writer. While working at the advertising agency Young & Rubicam, he wrote "Paths of Glory", an anti-war novel about three French soldiers executed during the First World War, based on a true story. Stanley Kubrick and his partner James Harris purchased the film rights from Cobb's widow and persuaded Kirk Douglas to star.

The presence of Douglas, a major star at the time, convinced United Artists to put up a $1 million budget. "Paths of Glory" was released in 1957, again gaining critical success for Kubrick, while achieving modest numbers at the box office.

Answer: Howard Fast

Howard Fast began writing from an early age, with his first novel published in 1933 at the age of 18. In 1943, he joined the Communist Party, and was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1950. As a result of his refusal to cooperate, he was sent to prison for three months.

While in prison, he wrote what became his most famous work, "Spartacus", a novel about the slave uprising against Rome in 71BC. Kirk Douglas read the book and elected to purchase the rights himself, persuading Universal to put up the budget to produce the film.

Initially, Anthony Mann was hired to direct, but he was fired after a week of shooting, with Stanley Kubrick, who had worked with Douglas on "Paths of Glory", brought in instead. The film was the highest grossing picture of 1960, also winning four Oscars.

Answer: Vladimir Nabakov

Vladimir Nabakov was a Russian-American writer. Born in Russia, he wrote his first novels in his native language while living in Berlin, before moving to the United States in 1940, where he began to write in English. His third novel in English, published in 1955, was "Lolita", the story of a university professor and his obsession with his 12-year old stepdaughter. Stanley Kubrick and James Harris purchased the rights to the novel to produce a film version, for which Nabakov wrote a screenplay. This was substantially rewritten by Kubrick and Harris, although neither took a credit, and the film, starring James Mason as Humbert Humbert, was released in 1962.

Despite the controversy surrounding it, "Lolita" was a commercial success, and garnered Nabakov an Oscar nomination.

Answer: Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke was a British science-fiction writer who has sometimes been referred to as the "prophet of the space age", as in his work he has predicted a number of innovations later used in the exploration and exploitation of space. Clarke met Stanley Kubrick in 1964 and the pair agreed to collaborate on a film project, the inspiration for which came from Clarke's 1951 short story "The Sentinel".

The project would encompass both a film and a novel, which the pair planned to write together. In the end, the difficulties of the process led to the pair completing the film script, while Clarke finished the book alone.

The film, "2001: A Space Odyssey", was released in 1968, and has since been regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and Kubrick's own masterpiece.

Answer: Anthony Burgess

Anthony Burgess was a writer of both words and music, achieving success in both, although it is for his comic fiction that he is best known. In 1962, his most famous work, "A Clockwork Orange" was published. A darkly comic, dystopian satire, the book was controversial on its publication.

The rights were originally sold in 1962, with Ken Russell planned to direct. Nothing came of this, and eventually the rights came into the possession of Stanley Kubrick, who had read and enjoyed the book. Despite the controversy surrounding the film, "A Clockwork Orange", released in 1971, was both a critical and commercial success, and gained four Oscar nominations.

Answer: William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray's most famous work is regarded as "Vanity Fair", but prior to the publication of this, he wrote the picaresque "The Luck of Barry Lyndon", which was published in serial format in 1844, and details the efforts of the eponymous character to gain entry into the English aristocracy. Stanley Kubrick had sought to make a film about Napoleon but, unable to gain financing, turned his attention to Thackeray's 1844 work, which allowed him to use the research he had done for his earlier project. Upon its release in 1975, "Barry Lyndon" achieved only moderate success critically and commercially, although it has since been re-evaluated both in terms of its content and its production.

Answer: Stephen King

Stephen King is an American author regarded as the "King of Horror". His first novel was published in 1973, and established King as a major figure in horror writing. In 1977, his third novel, "The Shining" was published, becoming his first bestseller in hardback format.

At the time, Stanley Kubrick had decided that his next project would need to be something commercial, and was reading horror novels to find something that would be viable, deciding on "The Shining". Following an arduous filming process, the film was eventually released in 1980 to mixed reviews, but with success at the box office. Since its release, "The Shining" has been assessed as one of the greatest horror movies of all time.

Answer: Gustav Hasford

Gustav Hasford joined the United States Marine Corps in 1966 and served a tour in Vietnam as a combat correspondent, writing articles for Letherneck Magazine and Stars & Stripes. Having left the marines, he began a career as a professional writer. His first novel, "The Short Timers", a semi-autobiographical piece based on his time in Vietnam, was published in 1979, becoming a bestseller.

In 1980, Stanley Kubrick was looking for a potential new project, and looked to try and make a film about the Vietnam War, eventually electing to adapt "The Short Timers".

The project took seven years to get going, eventually being released in 1987 as "Full Metal Jacket", and was a critical and commercial success, including an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. Today it is regarded as one of the finest war movies ever made.

Answer: Arthur Schnitzler

Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author who gained notoriety for his works containing frank depictions and descriptions of sexuality. One of these was the 1926 novella "Traumnovelle" ("Dream Story"), which Stanley Kubrick obtained the rights for in 1968.

However, although he nursed an idea for an adaptation, it wasn't until 1994 that the director began work on producing a film version. The film, made as "Eyes Wide Shut", was updated from 1920s Vienna to contemporary New York, and eventually took 15 months to shoot, with the first cut shown by Kubrick just six days before his death in March 1999.

Although it became Kubrick's highest grossing film, it was a box-office disappointment, although it received widespread critical praise.