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Despite a considerable deviation from Stephen King's book, this film manages to hypnotize the viewer. Stanley Kubrick creates a beautiful, desolate and creepy world at the Overlook Hotel. A lot of credit for creating the mood in this film must be given to the music, which packs an emotional punch. I can't imagine a better choice for the unhappily married alcoholic psycho-dad, than Jack Nicholson. His timing, facial and body expressions are vintage Jack, which he puts to good use in many memorable scenes. Shelly Duvall is a strange choice and a seeming mismatch as the timid wife, often overplaying the look of horror on her face, but she plays the role pretty well trying to stay one step ahead of her unravelling husband, while keeping her clairvoyant son from slipping too deep into his alter ego. Danny Lloyd does a very good job as the 6 year old with the 'very great talent'. Scatman Crothers & Joe Turkel give good solid supporting performances but Philip Stone does as especially good job as Grady, who informs Jack Torrence, in a terrific scene in the men's room, of how things are going to have to be. If you're expecting a true Stephen King horror flick, well that's not really what this is. Kubrick took liberties with the book no question. But it stands on it's own as a terrific film.

This is a terrific little movie about a middle aged man who shows up at an old friends house on the other side of town, in his swimming trunks, and decides to swim thru each neighbors swimming pool all the way to his house.

He stops and talks to most of these people and in the process, he revisits some old ghosts and his life is revealed to us in this one afternoon. You get a sense where the movie is headed especially towards the end.

Well worth the effort to see this one.

How anyone could not love this film is beyond me. Suave Madison Ave. man Cary Grant is mistaken for a spy, and then it's one great memorable scene after another, and the locations are as much a part of the film as the actors. The Plaza Hotel, The U.N., Grand Central Station, Mt. Rushmore, etc. Also there is not a single forgettable scene in the film. The crop dusting scene is by now the most identifying sequence in the picture. No director could pull off that scene today. It's beautifully paced. Hitchcock took time in the film to give the viewer a sense of isolation and inescapability. Even if you don't buy it, it's great entertainment. Also, the auction house scene is a hoot! James Mason is at his villainous best, and Eva Marie Saint is the cool irresistible blonde playing both sides of the street. If you've never seen this film, by all means rent it and then buy it. If you've already seen it, you probably already own it.