The Quilty scenes almost singlehandedly ruin the movie

The character of Quilty has less of a role in the book and is believable. He’s basically a dark shadow of Humbert, mirroring Humbert's carnal qualities. Unfortunately, Kubrick let Peters Sellers wildly loose in the part, which spoils it (and the movie). Don’t get me wrong, Peter Sellers has great charisma, even here, but too many of his Quilty sequences are nonsensical or implausible.

The two worst examples are: When he is coincidentally at the exact same hotel that Humbert & Lolita visit and has that eye-rolling (ad-libbed) conversation on the porch while looking away from Humbert. (The first time I watched the flick a decade ago, I literally turned it off at this point; it's so bad). Later Quilty shows up at Humbert’s abode masquerading as a school psychiatrist threatening to have a group of therapists come over to observe Lolita's home life, unless she can be in his play. Why Sure! It doesn’t help that Humbert curiously goes along without question in each case.

While overlong by at least half an hour, the cast is a highlight and the drama is fairly compelling and sometimes genuinely amusing in a black comedy way despite the quaint datedness of the production and the eye-rolling Quilty scenes.