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The Shining

year 1980decade 80sdirector Stanley Kubrickgenre Horror

143

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Jack Nicholson Jack Torrance
Shelley Duvall Wendy Torrance
Danny Lloyd Danny
Scatman Crothers Hallorann
Barry Nelson [Stuart] Ullman
Philip Stone Grady
Anne Jackson Doctor
Tony Burton Durkin
Lia Beldam Young woman in bath
Billie Gibson Old woman in bath
Barry Dennen Watson
David Baxt Forest ranger 1
Manning Redwood Forest ranger 2
Lisa Burns Grady daughter
Louise Burns Grady daughter
Robin Pappas Nurse
Alison Coleridge Secretary
Burnell Tucker Policeman
Jana Sheldon Stewardess
Kate Phelps Receptionist
Norman Gay Injured guest

The Shining | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Sean Fennesseyhost Chris Ryan
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Roger Ebert's review

Rating not yet verified
In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:28Read transcript
  • An initially critical response is contrasted with later inclusion in the Great Movies series; the discussion asks whether critics should revise old judgments.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Wendy discovers the manuscript and confronts Jack on the staircase

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:20Read transcript
  • The opening helicopter imagery and its theatrical impact are praised; old square television framing diminished it.
  • Jack’s anger at Wendy’s writing interruption is nominated, with her hurt and the warning signs of their marriage discussed.
  • Jack’s drink with Lloyd is praised for Nicholson’s expressive face and commitment.
  • The manuscript discovery and stair confrontation are praised for both performances, staging, terror and the revelation of the repeated sentence.
  • The manuscript’s typing is recounted, with the teardrop-shaped page and quoted indentation singled out.
  • The panel debates how many pages Wendy needs to inspect before understanding the manuscript.
  • The axe-through-the-bathroom-door sequence is nominated as an outstanding horror scene.
  • The iconic bathroom attack is admired, but prior exposure to parodies diluted its terror for one viewer; Jack abandoning the attack prompts a question.
  • The killing of Scatman Crothers is praised as shocking: Nicholson is hidden behind a pillar and the long return suggests a larger role.
  • Danny’s maze escape is praised for his preparation and retracing of footprints.
  • The second Gold Room visit and Grady conversation are added, along with the introductory hotel tour.
  • The ice-cream conversation is praised for explicitly acknowledging the supernatural power.
  • The manuscript discovery and staircase scene receive the final selection.

What’s Aged the Best?

Hallorann’s bedroom; REDRUM mirror reveal; Tony; Grady’s “correcting”; maze; twins; Nicholson’s drool; Overlook Hotel; “Go check it out”; Steadicam; Big Wheel

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:59Read transcript
  • Hallorann’s bedroom paintings and bachelor decor are celebrated, with questions about positioning and a pillow beneath his feet.
  • The mirror’s murder reversal and Danny’s eerie alternate voice remain effective.
  • Grady’s euphemism of correcting his family is chilling.
  • The maze, casting of the twins and Nicholson’s drooling commitment are praised.
  • The hotel’s exteriors and constructed interiors are admired; the panel would stay at the location.
  • The repeated instruction to check the Snowcat and radio inspires enthusiastic impressions.
  • The Steadicam is praised for ghostlike movement behind Danny, with Garrett Brown and earlier uses in Bound for Glory, Rocky and Marathon Man discussed.
  • One ranking puts the bedroom first, Steadicam second and Big Wheel third; the other responses favor Steadicam.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Treatment of Shelley Duvall

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:15Read transcript
  • The old woman and bear-costume scene are offered as disturbing imagery rather than failed effects; the woman’s identity remains uncertain.
  • Cutting the snowcat phone call is proposed and its length disputed; leaving the hotel occasionally is defended as making the return more intense.
  • Stories of Duvall’s stress, illness and harsh treatment during repeated takes are discussed with concern and compared with Nicholson’s response.
  • Conspiratorial readings are criticized; Room 237 is defended as a portrait of interpretation, and nostalgia for freer online film discussion complicates the objection.
  • The treatment of Duvall becomes the final reluctant aged-worst selection after a debate about the social danger of conspiracy thinking.

Casting What-Ifs

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:26Read transcript
  • Nicholson reportedly wanted Jessica Lange as Wendy, but Kubrick persuaded him otherwise.
  • Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro and Robin Williams are reported alternatives; Williams was considered too psychotic and the De Niro choice would have affected Raging Bull.
  • Harry Dean Stanton reportedly could not play Lloyd because of Alien; the panel appreciates that outcome.

Recasting Couch

Young Meryl Streep as Wendy; Gary Coleman as Danny

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:57Read transcript
  • A young Streep as Wendy is proposed alongside a joking Gary Coleman replacement for Danny.
  • Streep’s quiet intensity is contrasted with Duvall’s unrestrained performance, making the original leads difficult to replace.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Danny’s finger; performance demands; doors; child protection; repeated takes; artificial snow; Elstree schedule; Playgirl; room number

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:46Read transcript
  • Danny’s finger motion reportedly emerged in his audition; Nicholson reportedly admired Duvall’s difficult role.
  • The door scene reportedly required three days and sixty doors; Danny was shielded from horror material and replaced with a dummy for one confrontation.
  • Crothers reportedly endured over a hundred takes, then welcomed Eastwood’s sparse-take approach on Bronco Billy.
  • Maze snow is described as salt and styrofoam; Duvall reportedly needed water to keep crying, a claim questioned in discussion.
  • The Elstree shoot reportedly expanded from seventeen to fifty-one weeks, delaying Reds and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • Jack’s Playgirl magazine prompts uncertainty about its meaning and presence in the lobby.
  • The hotel reportedly requested changing room 217 to 237, although 217 later became a requested room.

Apex Mountain

Shelley Duvall (qualified); caretakers

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:30Read transcript
  • Duvall receives yes responses, challenged by Nashville and Annie Hall and by whether the film improved her opportunities; Popeye supports a qualified answer.
  • Caretakers receive an affirmative response; bartenders named Lloyd are raised without an explicit resolution.
  • Axe murderers are rejected with So I Married an Axe Murderer mentioned; Nicholson and Kubrick are rejected, with 2001 favored for Kubrick.

Picking Nits

Danny’s healing bruises and cold tolerance; two Gradys; disappearing wall decoration and chair

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:41Read transcript
  • Danny’s rapidly disappearing bruises and tolerance of the freezing maze are questioned, with supernatural healing and adrenaline offered.
  • Charles versus Delbert Grady prompts a reincarnation theory and a more general reading of an inconsistent haunted building.
  • A disappearing Dopey decoration and chair are debated as continuity errors or deliberate puzzles; the symbolic explanations receive pushback.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

“I would give my goddamn soul for a glass of beer”; “Wendy, I’m home”; “Here’s Johnny”; “Some places are like people, some shine and some don’t”; “You’ve had your whole fucking life to think things over. What good’s a few more minutes going to do now?”

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:47Read transcript
  • The offer of a soul for beer is interpreted as the moment the ghosts gain control; the announcement of coming home is also nominated.
  • Here’s Johnny is admired as timely Carson-era shorthand and perhaps now more famous than its source.
  • The line about places shining is another selection.
  • The demand to stop delaying after a lifetime to think is another favorite line.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A modern internet-era series; a caretaker obsessed with The Shining

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:41Read transcript
  • The previous miniseries is judged unsuccessful, but more pre-hotel time with Jack’s drinking and failed work is welcomed.
  • Doctor Sleep is recommended as an attempt to reconcile the book and film.
  • A modern series could use internet research and Reddit; an obsessed fan becoming a caretaker is enthusiastically proposed.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Music; impossible windows; elevator blood; Danny’s trauma; added apparitions; caretaker job; final photograph; anniversary party

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:22Read transcript
  • The Shining is favored over Sleeping with the Enemy for the frightening use of a musical selection whose title is uncertain in the transcript.
  • Impossible windows are debated as continuity errors or intentional design.
  • Running away is favored as the response to blood from elevators; the hosts recount that Kubrick called the trailer imagery red water.
  • A sexual-abuse interpretation is raised but not endorsed; physical abuse is the panel’s reading, with Dr. Sleep suggested for more mythology.
  • Additional apparitions are imagined, including podcast in-jokes and a Big Wheel moving by itself or ridden by an adult.
  • The isolated caretaker job is considered as a writing retreat, with concern about the people attracted to it and preference for company.
  • The final photograph prompts reincarnation, soul absorption and Faustian-bargain readings; the next caretaker and a next-year sequel are imagined.
  • An Overlook centenary party with a hired Lloyd is proposed and met with reluctance to recreate the film.

More from the conversation

Nicholson’s post-1970s career is discussed as shifting toward short, scene-dominating supporting performances.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:55Read transcript
Repeated viewing and internet theories are contrasted with a straightforward reading about writing, family, alcoholism and violence against Native Americans.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:41Read transcript
The discussion places Kubrick’s creative control alongside the era’s auteur-driven genre films.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:11Read transcript
An unranked survey of 1980 films illustrates a studio moment when blockbuster ambitions still gave filmmakers considerable latitude.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:06Read transcript
The hosts recount Kubrick finding the novel and King’s dissatisfaction with the adaptation; these are podcast-reported anecdotes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:27Read transcript
Writer’s block and resentment of interruptions are discussed as an unsettlingly recognizable part of the film.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:36Read transcript
King’s objections to an already sinister Jack and a meek Wendy are contrasted with the panel’s defense of cinematic exaggeration and the difficulty of adapting his novels.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:32Read transcript
An alternate Best Actor field is imagined with Nicholson and Pacino alongside De Niro, Duvall and O’Toole.
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:13Read transcript
A Holy Shit Moment or Hall of Fame category is proposed, with the objection that it would not fit every film.
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:28Read transcript
A modern version is imagined with Jack podcasting unsuccessfully from the hotel.
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:39Read transcript
Calling Ryen Russillo for a spontaneous film opinion is jokingly proposed as a category.
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:57Read transcript