The Jack Nicholson prank that infuriated Stanley Kubrick: “He was getting wilder and wilder”
The production of The Shining is nearly as infamous as the film itself, with countless stories that have made legends out of everyone involved. Whether it be the tiresome demands made by Stanley Kubrick, the alienation of Shelley Duvall as a way to infuse her performance with genuine madness or Jack Nicholson’s terrifying commitment to insanity, the making of the film has cemented its place in history as both a powerful testament to the vision of the director and the tireless nature of filmmaking itself.
But while it was an undeniably exhausting and tiresome shoot, Nicholson still managed to find time for frivolity and moments of lightness to break up the lingering darkness of each scene.
There are many moments from the film that have found their place in the Hollywood Hall of Fame, whether it be Jack’s crazed frenzy as he hacks away at the door, Wendy’s discovery of her husband’s so-called ‘novel’ or the unsettling tracking shots as Danny pedals his way around the deserted hotel. However, there is one scene that is continuously studied and picked apart, existing as a masterclass in acting and arguably the most disturbing monologue from the entire film.
After his showdown with Wendy, Jack heads to the bar and settles for a drink with a bartender who is only visible to him. He scoffs about his wife’s parenting tactics and loosely describes an incident that once occurred between him and his son, with the implication that Jack was drunk and his alcoholism led him to injure Danny, despite trying to downplay the violence or impact of the event. It is a chilling moment that reflects his full descent into complete delusion and denial, covering up his own mental instability by deflecting and shifting the blame onto everyone but himself.
Understandably, this would be a fairly testing scene to film, especially given Kubrick’s reputation for numerous takes. But one of Nicholson’s co-stars, Joe Turkel, described Nicholson’s own way of infusing gun into the moment, saying, “Halfway through shooting one of our takes, Jack leaned over to me, at the bar, and said ‘Joe, we’ve been shooting this thing for three weeks. Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna go crazy – I’m gonna start four feet in the air, then go up into the stratosphere.’ The opening line should have been, ‘Hi Lloyd, it’s good to see you.’ But he said, ‘Lloyd, how the hell are you? I haven’t seen you in a month of fucking Sundays.’ I was saying, ‘Splendid, Mr Torrance’, as he was getting wilder and wilder”.
While this added an element of surprise to a scene that had been done to death, Kubrick was initially less appreciative of Nicholson’s deviation from the script. Turkel continued, saying, “I could see Stanley getting mad. After we finished, Stanley walked on and said, ‘Gee Jack, that opens up a whole new can of corn.’ I cracked up, Jack fell on the floor laughing, and Stanley knew he was being had. And he roared”.
Sometimes improvisation is the best tool to keep a scene fresh and prevent your ideas from coming across as predictable, and despite being known for his meticulous attention to detail, perhaps this added something new to the scene that Kubrick himself couldn’t conjure up.
