Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

The Shining

Delbert Grady in The Shining (1980)
My girls, sir, they didn’t care for the Overlook at first. One of them actually stole a pack of matches and tried to burn it down. But I “corrected” them sir. And when my wife tried to prevent me from doing my duty, I “corrected” her.

Last night A&E showed the Stanley Kubrick version of The Shining — it’s really by far the better version. The newer version, a 1997 TV mini-series, was perhaps truer to the letter of the Stephen King novel. Kubrick, though, captured the spirit of the story. A few comments on different aspects of the two versions:

Shelley Duvall (1980) vs Rebecca DeMornay (1997) as “Wendy” — Shelley Duvall’s character was, frankly, annoying. At times, I really couldn’t blame the Jack Nicholson character for wanting to chop her up with an axe. She was so whiiiiiney. BUT that’s part of what made her portrayal so effective. She was irritating, but she ultimately didn’t really deserve what her husband had planned for her — and that created some interesting tension within the movie viewer. Yes, I dislike “Wendy” but do I really think she deserves to be killed? After all, she’s just looking out for her kid… The Rebecca DeMornay character was just bland. I didn’t really care one way or another what happened to her.

Jack Nicholson (1980) vs Steve Weber (1997) as “Jack” — Okay, of course, you’ve got to love Jack Nicholson in this role. He’s so completely over the top. To tell you the truth, though, I think Steve Weber did a better job overall at giving the “Jack” character some pathos. Nicholson didn’t give “Jack” any warmth and the movie wasn’t quite as truly wonderful as it might have been because of that. Part of what makes the King story horrible is that an otherwise decent enough person (“Jack”) is turned against the people he really does love. You never get much of a sense from Nicholson’s portrayal that he ever has any particularly warm feelings towards his wife and son.

Danny Lloyd (1980) vs Courtland Mead (1997) as “Danny” — This was probably the biggest casting mistake the 1997 crew made. Courtland Mead was just… irritating! He wasn’t cute enough (those teeth, that weirdly shaped mouth) and he wasn’t sweet enough. I didn’t care what happened to little Danny as portrayed by Mead and if you don’t care about the little kid in this kind of movie… well, it’s pretty much failed. Danny Lloyd, on the other hand, was cute and loveable and you couldn’t help but be concerned for him. What an excellent little actor that kid was!

Finally, Stanley Kubrick’s directing on the 1980 version of The Shining was amazing. The atmosphere of impending doom he was able to create even with the opening credits of the movie! Amazing. And the tension just builds. Of course, Stanley Kubrick was a genius.

I could watch this movie over and over. I have watched it over and over! I’ve probably seen it 50 times over the past 25 years. It’s so great. Get a DVD of it and watch it at home. Avoid the televised versions with all the swear words cut out. The swear words are not gratuitous. They actually serve a purpose in furthering the plot. When Grady refers to Halloran as “a nigger cook” it’s an indication of how EVIL Grady is. Last night, A&E dubbed it as “a no-good cook”. Blech. It’s not at all the same. You need to hear these characters use this sort of shocking language in order to get the full effect of what’s happening to them.

Anyway, I could go on and on about what a great movie the Kubrick version of The Shining is. You just need to see it yourself. Buy your own copy. You’ll be so glad you did!