On This Day

Birthday of Stanley Kubrick

July 26th 1928

10:07 26 July 2024

Stanley Kubrick was born on this day in 1928. The legendary filmmaker made his Hollywood debut with 'The Killing' (1956), followed by two collaborations with Kirk Douglas: 'Paths Of Glory' (1957) and 'Spartacus' (1960). A dislike of the Hollywood film industry prompted him to relocate to the United Kingdom in 1961 where he was able to have almost complete artistic control over his work and still get financial backing from the major Hollywood film studios.

The 1960s saw Kubrick hit a rich vein of form with classic movies such as 'Lolita' (1962), 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb ' (1964) and '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968). As a director he continued to challenge both himself and his audience by embracing a wide variety of genres with movies including 'Barry Lyndon' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980) and 'Full Metal Jacket' (1987).

His most controversial film 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971) was withdrawn from distribution in the UK by Kubrick after reports of "copycat ultra-violence" and was unavailable to screen for 27 years until the ban was lifted following the directors death shortly after completing his final film, the erotic drama 'Eyes Wide Shut' in 1999.