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Stephen Schiff Responds
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From: Stephen Schiff <schiff@echonyc.com>
I'm not sure that the film Mr. Howerton describes is one I would ever want
to see, but he makes a few interesting points. In the first place, I did
include the death of Humbert's mother in the screenplay, though perhaps not
in a manner fanciful enough to suit Mr. Howerton's scheme. (If he or any
other reader is interested, the screenplay has been published, with my
extensive introduction, as "Lolita: The Book of the Film." The publisher is
Applause Books, and the book is available at most big bookstores and through
all the on-line booksellers. Readers can judge for themselves whether the
script contains, as Mr. Howerton puts it, "lots of humor." All right, end of
plug.)
Second, it is interesting to hear Mr Howerton suggest Bill Murray for the
role of Quilty, since that is exactly who I had in mind. And indeed Murray
came to the set and spent a weekend more-or-less auditioning for the role.
In the end, Adrian Lyne was completely persuaded, but a few days later
Murray disappeared, and even his lawyers could not find him. (This was not,
apparently, the first time he had chosen such an escape route.) And so we
hired Frank Langella, who, in my opinion, did an absolutely extraordinary
job. (I think, by the way, that he does die, as Mr. Howerton puts it,
"tragically/comically," but the amount of blood on display may blind some
audiences to the humor.)
Finally, someone else on the list, Mr. Jerry Friedman, has a question about
whether we used King Humbert cannas in the Hazes' yard. That would have
been very clever of us, of course, but I have to confess that I have no
idea. Big-budget movies often have several people who devote themselves
exclusively to flora; unfortunately, I haven't a clue who did the job on
Lolita. (The set decorators, who would know such things if you can find
them, were Steve Parenti and Debra Schutt.)
Stephen Schiff
-----Original Message-----
From: Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu>
To: NABOKV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU <NABOKV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: What does VN rail against? (fwd)
>Phil Howerton : howerton@vnet.net
>
>Now that Mr. Schiff has signed on, I wonder if I could ask him a very
>politely meant question.
>
>Having seen his film, I wonder if he gave any thought to filming Lolita
>as a sort of fable. With Nabokov's Humbert's mother/angel rising up
>into the heavens, lots of humor, Bill Murray playing Quilty and dying
>tragically/comicly, etc.; with lots of actual reading from the book,
>leaving the sex mostly to the imagination. I didn't realize until I saw
>his movie how much I had always thought of Lolita as a fable and not a
>realistic tale.
>
>Phil Howerton
I'm not sure that the film Mr. Howerton describes is one I would ever want
to see, but he makes a few interesting points. In the first place, I did
include the death of Humbert's mother in the screenplay, though perhaps not
in a manner fanciful enough to suit Mr. Howerton's scheme. (If he or any
other reader is interested, the screenplay has been published, with my
extensive introduction, as "Lolita: The Book of the Film." The publisher is
Applause Books, and the book is available at most big bookstores and through
all the on-line booksellers. Readers can judge for themselves whether the
script contains, as Mr. Howerton puts it, "lots of humor." All right, end of
plug.)
Second, it is interesting to hear Mr Howerton suggest Bill Murray for the
role of Quilty, since that is exactly who I had in mind. And indeed Murray
came to the set and spent a weekend more-or-less auditioning for the role.
In the end, Adrian Lyne was completely persuaded, but a few days later
Murray disappeared, and even his lawyers could not find him. (This was not,
apparently, the first time he had chosen such an escape route.) And so we
hired Frank Langella, who, in my opinion, did an absolutely extraordinary
job. (I think, by the way, that he does die, as Mr. Howerton puts it,
"tragically/comically," but the amount of blood on display may blind some
audiences to the humor.)
Finally, someone else on the list, Mr. Jerry Friedman, has a question about
whether we used King Humbert cannas in the Hazes' yard. That would have
been very clever of us, of course, but I have to confess that I have no
idea. Big-budget movies often have several people who devote themselves
exclusively to flora; unfortunately, I haven't a clue who did the job on
Lolita. (The set decorators, who would know such things if you can find
them, were Steve Parenti and Debra Schutt.)
Stephen Schiff
-----Original Message-----
From: Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu>
To: NABOKV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU <NABOKV-L@UCSBVM.UCSB.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: What does VN rail against? (fwd)
>Phil Howerton : howerton@vnet.net
>
>Now that Mr. Schiff has signed on, I wonder if I could ask him a very
>politely meant question.
>
>Having seen his film, I wonder if he gave any thought to filming Lolita
>as a sort of fable. With Nabokov's Humbert's mother/angel rising up
>into the heavens, lots of humor, Bill Murray playing Quilty and dying
>tragically/comicly, etc.; with lots of actual reading from the book,
>leaving the sex mostly to the imagination. I didn't realize until I saw
>his movie how much I had always thought of Lolita as a fable and not a
>realistic tale.
>
>Phil Howerton