Kirk Douglas

Made films the shows talk about.

Counted as other. The films the hosts said they were tied to, which the two lists below run through too: Ben-Hur (1959); Lolita (1962); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975); Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Count them as actor (12 films), producer (1 film) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Arthur Schnitzler: 2 lines

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Arthur Schnitzler ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the host's read). Kubrick turned Schnitzler's Dream Story into Eyes Wide Shut 30 plus years later (per the dossier).
    “the Arthur Schnitzler book that he's going to turn into Eyes Wide Shut 30 plus years later.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:10:40 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (source novella) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Arthur Schnitzler ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the host's read). The speaker says the novel is very close to the film, so close that its plot beats are nearly one to one.
    “And it is very similar to eyes wide shut.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:33:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Dream Story (Traumnovelle, the Schnitzler novella): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Dream Story (Traumnovelle, the Schnitzler novella) ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the host's read). The speakers note the film's credit says inspired by, not adapted from, Schnitzler's novella.
    “It's not adapted from Schnitzler.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:37:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Kirk Douglas: 1 line, within their own work

  1. lineage (origin of the project) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Kirk Douglas ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the maker said so). Kirk Douglas claims he handed Kubrick the novella during their Paths of Glory or Spartacus fights.
    “Kirk Douglas claims he gave it to him during one of their like shared therapy sessions”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:33:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Lolita (1955 novel): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Lolita (1962), which they were tied to as star Kubrick wanted; refused to play Humbert, wanted to produce: Lolita (1955 novel) ⇒ Lolita (the host's read). The 1962 film is adapted from Nabokov's novel; the speaker reads Crowther's review saying the film keeps the names and a resemblance of plot.
    “They made a movie from a script in which the characters have the same name as the characters in the book, and the plot bears a resemblance to the original”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Lolita with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 1:47:47 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Modern Romance: 1 line

  1. lineage (influence) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Modern Romance ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the maker said so: Kubrick's call to Albert Brooks, 'that famous story'). Kubrick reached out to Albert Brooks after Modern Romance because he wanted to bottle that dynamic of men and women.
    “if you like reached out to Albert Brooks after seeing modern romance and said, like, Brit, and he was like, how did you do this?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:38:46 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Terry Southern: 1 line

  1. lineage (origin of an idea) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Terry Southern ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the host's read). A conversation Southern had with Kubrick about an erotic film that looks like a film is called a kernel of Eyes Wide Shut.
    “he basically had a conversation at one point with Kubrick that is a kernel of eyes wide shut.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · A Clockwork Orange with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:15:42 · Alex Ross Perry (0.60 sure it was them)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011): 1 line

  1. lineage (title origin) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the host's read). The speaker offers that the phrase 'eyes wide shut' may come from the le Carre novel.
    “It may have been inspired from Tinker Teal or Soldier Spy.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:40:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Babygirl (2024): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Eyes Wide Shut ⇒ Babygirl (the host's read). The stoned late-night bedroom lecture after the rave echoes Eyes Wide Shut.
    “Nice callback to eyes wide shut and lecturing Tom Cruise in the bedroom while stoned out of their minds.”
    The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:24:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999): 1 line, within their own work

  1. lineage (origin of the project) · them, directly: Kirk Douglas ⇒ Eyes Wide Shut (the maker said so). Kirk Douglas claims he handed Kubrick the novella during their Paths of Glory or Spartacus fights.
    “Kirk Douglas claims he gave it to him during one of their like shared therapy sessions”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:33:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Gone Girl (2014): 1 line

  1. theme (character type (Desi)) · through Lolita (1962), which they were tied to as star Kubrick wanted; refused to play Humbert, wanted to produce: Lolita ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so: In the commentary). On the commentary Fincher says he wanted a Claire Quilty type for Desi and found it in Neil Patrick Harris.
    “Fincher said he wanted a Claire quilty type and he's like, what's a modern Claire quilty type?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:18:15 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Harrison Ford: 1 line

  1. career (career) · them, directly: Kirk Douglas ⇒ Harrison Ford (the host's read). Harrison Ford tried to continue Douglas's tradition of using star power to get tricky movies made.
    “Harrison Ford was kind of trying to keep the Douglas tradition going”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:39:53 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Juneteenth (Atlanta episode) (2016): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Eyes Wide Shut ⇒ Juneteenth (Atlanta episode) (the host's read). Donald Glover's character describes the party as a Spike-directed reboot of Eyes Wide Shut.
    “this is like a spikely directed reboot of eyes wide shut”
    The Big Picture · Janicza Bravo and Brett Gelman Channel Rejection and Anxiety to Make ‘Lemon’ | The Big Picture (Ep. 22) · 0:04:44 · Alison Herman (0.85 sure it was them)

Phantom Thread (2017): 1 line

  1. unmapped (lesson learned) · through Eyes Wide Shut (1999), which they were tied to as claims he gave Kubrick the novella: Eyes Wide Shut ⇒ Phantom Thread (the host's read). The speaker feels PTA took lessons from visiting the Kubrick set about small crews.
    “Like, it feels like PTA sort of learned some lessons from being on the set that took years to see Ben.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 1:06:03 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988): 1 line

  1. unmapped (accent convention) · through Ben-Hur (1959), which they were tied to as runner-up for the lead: Ben-Hur ⇒ The Last Temptation of Christ (the host's read). Scorsese made the Romans British, as in Ben-Hur, with everyone else American.
    “He said the big thing was to give let the Romans be British.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · The Last Temptation of Christ with Jamelle Bouie · 1:02:57 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Producing (1) everyone in producing

Acting (20) everyone in acting

Other (4) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (3)

  1. career (career): Kirk Douglas → The Bad and the Beautiful. Douglas in this era is a harder-edged man out of time, as in The Bad and the Beautiful or Ace in the Hole.
    “Like when you see him in things like this or the bad and the beautiful or ace in the hole or whatever, you're like, this is, there's no one like this in the 50s, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:37:41 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Kirk Douglas → Harrison Ford. Harrison Ford tried to continue Douglas's tradition of using star power to get tricky movies made.
    “Harrison Ford was kind of trying to keep the Douglas tradition going”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:39:53 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Kirk Douglas → Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick assumed what a Kirk Douglas movie should be; Douglas wanted to use his stardom to make other kinds of movies.
    “And Kirk Douglas was like, I don't want to make Kirk Douglas movies.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:42:27 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

contrast (2)

  1. contrast (contrast): Kirk Douglas → Gregory Peck. Peck was an alternative to Douglas but reads as selfless, where Douglas carries an edge of histrionics.
    “Whereas Gregory Peck always felt kind of selfless, you know?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:36:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast): Gregory Peck → Kirk Douglas. On a lifeboat Peck is the safe-daddy type; Douglas would level with you and drink seagull blood.
    “if you're on a lifeboat with Kirk Douglas, like, you're going to be drinking seagull blood and singing sea shanties and like he's going to level with you.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:36:50 · Sarah Marshall (0.85 sure it was them)

industry (1)

  1. industry (business deal): Stanley Kubrick → Kirk Douglas. Kubrick had a five-picture deal with Kirk Douglas; only two got made before Douglas released him, largely because Douglas wanted nothing to do with Lolita.
    “He's also got this 5 picture deal with Kirk Douglas, 2 movies, end up getting done before Kirk Douglas releases him.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Lolita with Fran Hoepfner (Ad-Free) · 0:39:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

lineage (1)

  1. lineage (origin of the project): Kirk Douglas → Eyes Wide Shut. Kirk Douglas claims he handed Kubrick the novella during their Paths of Glory or Spartacus fights.
    “Kirk Douglas claims he gave it to him during one of their like shared therapy sessions”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Eyes Wide Shut with David Ehrlich (Ad-Free) · 0:33:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

theme (1)

  1. theme (comparison): Kirk Douglas → Charlton Heston. Douglas could easily have just been Heston.
    “He so easily could have just been Heston.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:19:31 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

unmapped (2)

  1. unmapped (father and son): Michael Douglas → Kirk Douglas. Michael basically fired his own father from Cuckoo's Nest.
    “He basically fires his own dad from being in.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Game with Brendan Hines (Ad-Free) · 0:17:47 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (runner-up): Kirk Douglas → Ben-Hur. Douglas was the runner-up for the lead of Ben-Hur.
    “Like Douglas was the runner-up for Ben Hur.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:21:36 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Kirk Douglas: Douglas griped that Kubrick left their five-picture deal and made only six films after.
    “half of his remaining filmography would have been under my contract.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 0:30:22 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Kirk Douglas: Douglas on Kubrick: it is not necessary to be nice to be talented.
    “Stanley Kubrick is a talented shit.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 1:35:24 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Kirk Douglas: In the 4K special features a 98-year-old Douglas says only ten of his ninety films will be remembered.
    “And he says this thing about like, I made 90 movies in my life.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Spartacus with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free) · 2:04:57 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Kirk Douglas: In Munich the rewritten script had a happy ending; Douglas threatened to walk. Kubrick calmly said he wanted a commercial hit.
    “he said, I did it to make a commercial.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Paths of Glory with Sarah Marshall (Ad-Free) · 0:42:03 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)