The “lousiest” movie Stanley Kubrick ever made, according to Kirk Douglas
Stanley Kubrick’s filmmaking career truly began to take off when he started working with Kirk Douglas. The classic Hollywood star first worked with Kubrick on his fourth directorial feature, Paths of Glory, which earned much critical praise. Still, it proved to be majorly controversial because of its anti-war stance.
Believe it or not, the film was banned in several countries, with French audiences responding particularly negatively due to its portrayal of their military. Still, the movie made a profit, and Kubrick’s reputation in the industry only continued to grow.
Two years later, Douglas contacted Kubrick and expressed interest in working with him again, pitching an idea for the two to work on a film about Spartacus together. Douglas had already hired Anthony Mann to direct but soon fired him in exchange for Kubrick, who had never worked on such a large-scale project before.
Yet, Kubrick proved that he was well-suited for large-scale productions with Spartacus, which became a huge success. Within eight years time, almost all of Kubrick’s movies became epic in theme, set design and length, with projects like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon and The Shining acting as prime examples.
Spartacus might have been highly acclaimed by critics, but behind the scenes, Kubrick faced many challenges. One of the most prominent issues during production was the clash between Kubrick and Douglas, who didn’t see eye to eye on many creative choices. Douglas was not only the star but also the producer, so Kubrick had to compromise with him, which he found frustrating.
Talking to Variety, Douglas once said, “Difficult? [Kubrick] invented the word. But he was talented. So, we had lots of fights, but I always appreciated his talent.” Douglas and Kubrick never worked together again, but during this time, he would read something that would inspire his final film, Eyes Wide Shut. According to Douglas, a psychiatrist recommended Traumnovelle to Kubrick, a novella by Arthur Schnitzler.
Kubrick ended up using the story as a source of inspiration for Eyes Wide Shut decades later, co-writing the screenplay with Frederic Raphael. The film has always divided audiences, with some people loving it and others believing it to be wildly overrated. There’s even debate surrounding the film’s completion since Kubrick died before it was released.
While Kubrick reportedly believed it was one of the finest things he’d ever done, Douglas thought it was “the lousiest picture”. He didn’t elaborate, but perhaps Kubrick’s take on elite sex cults and rituals didn’t entertain Douglas all too much.
The film follows a man played by Tom Cruise, whose night takes a turn for the unexpected when he finds himself associating with members of a masked orgy. His wife, played by Nicole Kidman, reveals that she almost had an affair, which leads him to contemplate his feelings and embark on a journey into a bizarre sexual underworld.
It’s easily one of Kubrick’s most provocative and shocking movies – quite the bang to go out on. Some people have even gone as far as to suggest that Kubrick’s cause of death was actually murder due to the content within the film, which supposedly ‘exposes’ the elite.