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Woody Allen is a living depiction of Clare Quilty

posted 9 years ago by Mellow-Fellow
11 replies | jump to latest

His mannerisms, eccentricity, even the way he talks. I'm too young to have noticed this not having seen much of Peter Sellers at all, but Woody Allen really seems to have molded himself and his career out of his style. Then, ironically almost literally duplicates the character of Clare Quilty and actions of Humbert in his real life. Marrying Farrow then his step-daughter!? He either loves or hates this film. Probably hates the similarities

I don't really think Woody abused the younger child, I think Mia Farrow might be a little bit psychotic and in her spite went cut-throat and nasty by easily accusing him of molesting their young daughter, possibly even coaching her into believing it happened or at least convincing her to say those things happened. After all what he did was pretty loathsome and disgusting by most peoples moral standards, taking it a step further isn't something folks would see him incapable of.

Anyway, I can't be the first one to make this connection. I wonder if Woody Allen has acknowledged inspiration from Peter Sellers. Lolita could be a scattered biography or a foretelling story of Woody Allen. Kind of interesting, I guess ill go look it up here on the nets. Wonder if Woody has a foot fixation like Humbert did, that was about the only way I could relate to him, Humbert, what a despicable character. It's almost like he was paying reparations to Lolita at the end of the film. I feel he and Quilty got what they deserved.

[–] cjanewatch 9 years ago

Omg, you entirely nailed it. That association had been on the tip of my tongue (well, brain) since i first saw the movie, but I never consciously made the connection.

[–] cyninbend-149-610489 9 years ago

Very interesting connection! Would have been fascinating to know what the author and Kubrick thought. I need to watch this again from that perspective.

At the risk of stirring up hate, I'm not so judgmental against Woody as the rest of the world seems to be. I agree with you about the charges--I read an article done later and there was terrible railroading going on that was not within legal confines. Politically motivated and objectionable, which was why he was not prosecuted in the end.

Woody and Soon Yi (sp?) are still married, raising their child. So perhaps it is a case of true love. Mia Farrow (and Woody, as well) certainly had a string of unsuccessful past relationships, either she (he) left partners, or they could not stay with her (him), either. And it would be very hard to be in a relationship with Mia, the Earth Mother or whatever she cast herself as (or Woody as well). So he fell in love with someone else. People do that. We hurt each other. That's why we love to see fictional creations on this theme. No one is flawless and no one is perfectly evil either.

As for Humbert paying Lolita the money at the end, it's the money from her mother's house. I doubt the mother, Charlotte, had had the time to revise her will after the wedding, to leave it all to Humbert. If she died without a will, I think the daughter, Lolita, would deserve half by law. Spouses get half the estate, other heirs share the other half if there is no will.

Morally, Lolita really deserved it all--Humbert'd married her mother just days before she died. The money should have been used to send Lolita through school so she could support herself, but this writer did not seem willing to dispense with stereotypical female roles the way he does men's roles.

Perhaps Humbert knew at heart he was wrong and had contributed to the mess Lolita's life was? Did he understand he deserved what Lolita had done to him? He was a professor and an expert on existentialism after all. And now another was being born into this world in 3 months. When he realized he could not have Lolita back, perhaps he tried to do what was right and give Lolita the money to which she was entitled....give her (innocent) daughter and (super sincere) husband chances as well...

I love this movie though. And the remake as well. However, as always, I hate when powerful actors are allowed to revise scripts to expand their roles--we need a law against that! Peter Sellers and his Ping Pong had no place. Just dumb. And no, I don't go for Nambla(?) or whatever it is called (the organization of perves to legalize sex with children). I just love this fiction and how the fixation destroys Humbert. We are supposed to guess it destroyed Quilty as well, but his insanity loses any relation to what damage Lolita would have wrought. He's just crazy, not jealous and obsessed by the end...

[–] Mellow-Fellow 9 years ago

I looked for association or even inspiration from Peter Sellers in any old Woody Allen quotes but found nothing. Though I didn't dig too deep. It's just so spot on Woody Allen at least his acting persona mimics Sellers character in this nearly identically, particularly at the end (beginning) the stammering speech, quick repetitive words, etc.. Was this also Pepe Sellers' comedic style not in this role? If this was his comedic style then I would say it definitely guided Allen's way of acting as Pete Sellers was huge around the time Woody hit the scene IIRC.

Yeah I thought about not mentioning the turmoil in Woody's life as it always turns to that conversation but I agree with you, and Mia Farrow well, she seemed nuts, I watched part of Woody Allen 60 minutes interview a long time ago, who knows. I didn't want to mention this because of the conversation switching over but felt I must considering the similarities between this film and his REAL life. Not only does he virtually duplicate a character in this movie, he plays out the life of Humbert in the major parts aside from motive, murder, and the obvious, so felt it had to be mentioned.

Yes, I too believe Humbert knew he was wrong. It provokes thought, this guy is an emotional misanthrope, though during the era I suppose that's how "men" acted, and he should have had no problem finding a proper woman for himself. That aside, he really couldn't help himself... I kept wanting to scream at him during the rental scene, "forget it man, find another house!". It was Lolita's money all along, I suppose it was legally his though, he just did the right thing... He isn't a BAD guy, a lot of people seem to think he is a monster, yeah, well he is in a way but a few actions should not define a person (yet they almost always do). He couldn't go through with killing the mother.. (on what slender strings do life and fortune hang... I kept thinking of that quote when she died) He kept her captive in a way, she had to ESCAPE, because she knew he would never let her go, having that "father" card to play until she was 18 at least. Had she been smarter she could have manipulated him and used herself against him so easily... She was intellectually incompatible to say the least and this relationship was driven on pure lust initiated by her, this guy was just meek and needed a girl to initiate things. Once she did he was in hook like and sinker... She was just doing it for fun because shes a.. Lolita, I guess her name has come to define the word I'm looking for, lol.

I agree as well with your analysis of Quilty, he wasn't fixated, he was a genius in a mad sort of way who was just playing a game with people, he didn't really care about her, but enough so that he remembered her name "so she made a few phone calls" he says at the "end" I wonder what that means, maybe Ill read the book, it's probably more of what I was expecting anyway. Quilty was just at the brink of his madness and may actually owe Humbert a favor for putting him out of his misery before he sunk to the bottom.

[–] catbookss 8 years ago

It is an interesting connection, one I'd never thought of before.

At the risk of stirring up hate, I'm not so judgmental against Woody as the rest of the world seems to be. I agree with you about the charges--I read an article done later and there was terrible railroading going on that was not within legal confines. Politically motivated and objectionable, which was why he was not prosecuted in the end.

I'm not big on hate, but I think what he did was reprehensible. There are certain lines you don't cross. Taking up with the adopted daughter, who's less than half your age, of your long-time girlfriend, behind her back, and taking pornographic photos of her is without question one of those lines.

As far as the charges, I've read a number of articles, and the testimony, and I don't see any terrible railroading, within legal confines or not, nor political motivations. He wasn't prosecuted because the DA and Mia agreed to not further traumatize Dylan, their daughter, which is certainly reasonable. Whether or not he did molest her, I can't say, and no one except the two of them can.

Woody and Soon Yi (sp?) are still married, raising their child. So perhaps it is a case of true love.

They are, and I believe they have two adopted children. There's no way to know what happens behind closed doors, but by appearances anyway, their marriage is happy.

And it would be very hard to be in a relationship with Mia, the Earth Mother or whatever she cast herself as (or Woody as well).

You must be a man. While I agree being in a relationship with a spouse who wants to adopt so many children would be difficult, not many would want to be in a relationship with a scrawny, homely, neurotic, self-absorbed person, either. At least Mia was pretty, and bright (as was Woody).

When I watched his film back when he cast himself as the leading man, as a woman, I felt repelled by him. Great, so the guys got Diane and Mia, while the women got … Woody? Ugh. Even later the only attractive man he cast in the lead was John Cusack, and that was only in one film.

As for Humbert paying Lolita the money at the end, it's the money from her mother's house. I doubt the mother, Charlotte, had had the time to revise her will after the wedding, to leave it all to Humbert. If she died without a will, I think the daughter, Lolita, would deserve half by law. Spouses get half the estate, other heirs share the other half if there is no will.

Morally, Lolita really deserved it all--Humbert'd married her mother just days before she died. The money should have been used to send Lolita through school so she could support herself, but this writer did not seem willing to dispense with stereotypical female roles the way he does men's roles.

I agree. If the mother died intestate, half would have been hers, and morally, Lolita did deserve it all.

[–] bradhbbrd 9 years ago

If you think Woody compares to Quilty than you must not be familiar with Quilty.

The things Quilty is accused of by Humbert in the book make Woody look like a saint.
Quilty ran a ranch where he made porno films with kids he got from the camp.
Of course Quilty was impotent but the things he did were far beyond Humbert or Woody.
The line about the electric chair and executions even suggests snuff films may not be beyond him.
Ironically he the one Dolores Haze really loved.
Strange world.

[–] WhiteDiablo 9 years ago

Don't forget that Woody Allen was Roman Polanski's staunchest defender, and Quilty had "friends" that he tried to pass Lolita around with.

[–] Mellow-Fellow 9 years ago

Man, it's getting scary coming here, the line is blurring!

[–] Barbed_Wire_Strawberry 8 years ago

Well...as a matter of fact, Sellers based his performance on Kubrick himself.
But the whole point is what you see on the surface isn't really what is underneath...

Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride

[–] Mellow-Fellow 8 years ago

I like this thread.... You are all probably older than I am, I only heard the name Pete Sellers never seen a performance before this, since then have seen some clips and bits but I suppose he was the man in the day huh?

Of course he couldn't have based it on Woody... But Kubrick really? How did you hear of this?

Woody though, man it's scary how alike the real guy and Quilty are.

[–] Barbed_Wire_Strawberry 8 years ago

It's been said in several Kubrick books I've read. That is to say the look of the character (a young Kubrick) and the nervousness (though exagerated for comic effect) were based on Kubrick. Woody's persona and act was largely taken from Bob Hope, he has admitted this, but his own nervous jewishness is amplified for comedic effect.

Woody was quite jealous of Kubrick. It's funny that his general persona would be close to Quilty, same as Kissinger was the same was Strangelove, who also came before him in prominence.

Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride

[–] catbookss 8 years ago

Woody's persona and act was largely taken from Bob Hope, he has admitted this, but his own nervous jewishness is amplified for comedic effect.

Bob Hope?! I find this shocking. Aside from the fast speech, I can't see anything the two have in common and Bob Hope was, well, to be kind, not very funny.

Would you mind expanding on the similarities?