Shelley Duvall in The Shining
"We're all gonna have a real good time."
Happy Valentine’s Day! The husband and I are making lasagna and then watching a horror movie. Same thing we do every night, Pinky.
Here are some things I enjoyed this week:
Kakihara’s outfits in Ichi The Killer (2001)
Carmilla accuracy + lots of boobs in The Vampire Lovers (1970)
The opening in Dune (1984) where Virginia Madsen gives a bunch of exposition, fades out, and comes back with “Oh yes I forgot to tell you” followed by more exposition. Not much else from Dune.
And now let’s celebrate this holiday with the opposite of romance. Utter contempt!
This Week: Shelley Duvall & Stanley Kubrick
Note: Descriptions of emotional abuse and mentions of simulated physical abuse and mental illness
The Shining (1980)
Based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel and directed by Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time. When Jack Torrance gets a job as the Caretaker for a secluded hotel in Colorado, he’s looking forward to the time and isolation to write his novel. He brings his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, but their strained relationship from a drunk Jack dislocating Danny’s arm is exacerbated when Jack lets the ghosts of the hotel take over his thoughts.
If you haven’t seen it, its elements add up to something amazing; chilling cinematography, a soundtrack unlike anything else, incredible acting, and iconic visuals from intricately patterned carpets to an elevator full of blood.
Stanley Kubrick
Born in 1928, Kubrick is considered one of the great auteurs, a director with singular control over his vision. To gain that control and reputation, he cultivated knowledge on writing, editing, directing, color grading, promotion, camera technology, research, and more.
He sought perfectionism and realism, shooting Barry Lyndon by candlelight and ‘pushing’ his actors to get the performances he wanted.
During the filming of The Shining, Stanley Kubrick’s daughter, Vivian, shot a 35-minute behind-the-scenes documentary. Considering that Stanley Kubrick was known to delete all excess footage so studios would be forced to use his cuts, there isn’t much filmed evidence of Stanley Kubrick’s behavior besides this.
When it comes to documentary bias, it’s obvious that 17-year-old Vivian has a bit of a crush on Jack Nicholson. We get crotch shots and acting tips1 from Nicholson and only depictions of Duvall’s mistakes.
In the doc, Stanley Kubrick compliments Nicholson after takes, gives direction without condescension, and establishes a sense of camaraderie with the actor. He humiliates Shelley Duvall for not understanding the timing of an entrance queue, scoffs to the camera and crew at her observation that she’s losing her hair, and shows no interest in her personhood.
Jack Torrance/Nicholson
Jack Nicholson’s innate creepiness lends itself to Jack’s nature, and his performance lives on as one of his most iconic, nearly fifty years later, amid a storied career.
Stephen King hated the movie, which I don’t, but we share the same feeling about Jack:
“I don’t like the arc that Jack Nicholson runs as Jack Torrance. Because it isn’t really an arc — it’s a flat line. He’s crazy from the jump."
It’s one-note, but since it’s a really good note, he gained critical acclaim.
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall never meant to be an actor. Discovered at a party by Robert Altman, the filmmaker proceeded to cast her in his next six films, which she followed up with a role in Annie Hall before she won the part of Wendy in The Shining.
In the doc, she mentions she was ill during shooting, citing it to stress from a recent break-up — Paul Simon dumped her on New Year’s Day at the airport before she flew to film The Shining — and when prompted, thanks Stanley Kubrick for pushing her for that performance.
On the process, she told The Hollywood Reporter:
“[Kubrick] doesn’t print anything until at least the 35th take. Thirty-five takes, running and crying and carrying a little boy, it gets hard. And full performance from the first rehearsal. That’s difficult.” Before a scene, she would put on a Sony Walkman and “listen to sad songs. Or you just think about something very sad in your life or how much you miss your family or friends. But after a while, your body rebels. It says: ‘Stop doing this to me. I don’t want to cry every day.’ And sometimes just that thought alone would make me cry. To wake up on a Monday morning, so early, and realize that you had to cry all day because it was scheduled — I would just start crying. I’d be like, ‘Oh no, I can’t, I can’t.’ And yet I did it. I don’t know how I did it. Jack said that to me, too. He said, ‘I don’t know how you do it.’ “
Jack Nicholson’s girlfriend at the time, Anjelica Huston, noted that everyone else flew back and forth to set, but only Shelley rented a flat nearby. Huston says of her:
“It seemed to be a little bit like the boys were ganging up. That might have been completely my misread on the situation, but I just felt it. And when I saw her during those days, she seemed generally a bit tortured, shook up. I don’t think anyone was being particularly careful of her.”
Although the record for most takes2 — 148 — goes to Kubrick’s scene between Danny Torrance and Dick Hallorann, he shot the baseball bat scene with Jack and Wendy 127 times.
On why she cries watching the scene decades later, Shelley Duvall says:
“Because we filmed that for about three weeks. Every day. It was very hard. Jack was so good — so damn scary. I can only imagine how many women go through this kind of thing.”
The Legacy
In 1981, Shelley Duvall was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Acting at the inaugural awards. In 2022, it was rescinded. Razzie co-founder Maureen Murphy told Vulture:
“Knowing the backstory and the way that Stanley Kubrick kind of pulverized her, I would take that back.”
I don’t agree that Kubrick’s treatment of her means we should forgive an awful performance. Because I love her performance! I love how her big doe eyes reflect the horrors before the audience gets to see! I love the Mama Bear energy that guides her to always reach for her son, moving him away from his dry drunk of a father! I love the pragmatism with which she uses a can opener! I love the terrible way she holds that baseball bat, as if she really, really doesn’t want to be doing it!
It’s hard to parse if what we’re seeing is the result of an actor at the height of their craft versus a dancing monkey fighting to please a tyrannical ringleader. The performance is effective for me, and the fact that some of it is real exhaustion, real fear, real shame doesn’t make it better or more authentic. It’s just a caveat I have to come to terms with every time I want to watch one of the greatest horror films ever made.
After The Shining, from 1982 to 1987, Shelley produced and occasionally starred in Faerie Tale Theatre3, a live-action fairytale anthology series with collaborators like Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton, Paul Reubens, Robin Williams, Mick Jagger, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minelli, Carrie Fisher, and so, so many more.
Even with an extensive resume and a circle of celebrity friends, Shelley Duvall completely disappeared from Hollywood in the 90’s.
In 2016, Dr. Phil tracked her down for an interview, where she is obviously unwell, nervous, and paranoid. He received criticism for the exploitative nature of the broadcast, justifying it as ‘mental health awareness’ because of course he did.
In the 2021 Hollywood Reporter follow-up, she’s described as ‘moody,’ but sharp and proud of her life and accomplishments.
I don’t think the narrative is as simple as ‘Kubrick drove her crazy.’ She wanted to be a scientist and stumbled into acting, where she was adored by one director for several years before jetting off to a set where she was isolated at work and at home. She couldn’t even listen to “The Sound of Silence,” the comfort of “Hello darkness, my old friend,” tainted by a shitty ex.
And then the movie she worked so hard for, crying all day every day and exhausting herself for, comes out, her acting making headlines for the wrong reasons.
Her acting in The Shining has gained a cult fanbase, a reexamining so long overdue that the actress can no longer financially benefit from it. I hope it brings her joy, but more importantly, I hope she’s in a place where she’s got people who are being particularly careful of her.
I’ve got fairy tales queue’d up and some Robert Altman pending at the library. Whether you love her performance as Wendy Torrance or find it over-the-top, it was work done with an axe to her throat named Stanley Kubrick. May our new auteurs not go unchecked into that good night.
Recommended Watchlist
Isolation, haunted houses, incredible performances.
Burnt Offerings (1976)
Starring hammy horror legends Karen Black and Oliver Reed, this is The Shining, but in summer.
The Night House (2020)
What’s worse than a ghost? Unfathomable grief! Stars Rebecca Hall.
The Others (2001)
Nicole Kidman! Twists! Nicole Kidman!!!
Next week: A look at black characters in horror, with the help of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar!
xo,
the knife that drips, drips, drips with the blood of allie lembo
Resources
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King
Making The Shining dir. Vivian Kubrick
The Shining dir. Stanley Kubrick
Searching for Shelley Duvall: The Reclusive Icon on Fleeing Hollywood and the Scars of Making ‘The Shining.’ The Hollywood Reporter.
Who’s Still Laughing With the Razzies? Vulture.
He underscores his lines the same way as Boris Karloff and brushes his teeth before every shoot.
Not just in The Shining, of all time.
Love this whole review. Your writing is awesome and riveting. I have never seen the Shining, and now I will not have to since your presentation was so powerful -it scared me!! Happy V-Day!
This is SO Good. Grateful for your beautiful take on Shelly Duvall. Hard Agree with you!!