The Plot Thickens

The fallout from A Clockwork Orange leads Stanley to take drastic action against his own film. Trouble then follows him to Ireland, where mysterious threats force him to flee the country before he can finish filming an 18th century period piece called Barry Lyndon. After a disastrous production, the movie fails to catch on with audiences.

Please note: the next episode of The Plot Thickens will release after Thanksgiving, on December 3, 2026.

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Stanley experiences a career low when his newest movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, has mass walkouts during its premiere. But 2001 quickly builds an audience, and Stanley becomes a god among filmmakers. His next film is even riskier: a violent, perverse look at the future called A Clockwork Orange, which ignites a firestorm of rage from Stanley's British neighbors.

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Channeling his own growing anxiety, Stanley realizes that the only way to make a movie about nuclear war is to make it a comedy. Calling it Dr. Strangelove, Stanley pushes his talented cast and world-class crew to their limits, resulting in a riotous, polarizing satire that became a counterculture classic.

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Stanley adapts the most shocking book of its time, a purported love story between a middle-aged man and a 12 year-old girl named Lolita.  To escape censors, Stanley shoots the movie in England.  But it still ends up stirring plenty of controversy, which propels it to become a major hit.

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Kirk Douglas offers Stanley a massive paycheck to take over directing a historical epic called Spartacus.  Against his better judgment, Stanley agrees, and gets roped into one of the most difficult productions of his career. Despite the film's success, Stanley regrets his involvement and learns a painful lesson about Hollywood hierarchies.

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Stanley heads to Hollywood to direct The Killing, a crime caper with a famous cast and a confusing storyline.  The film tanks at the box office but attracts the attention of movie star Kirk Douglas, who agrees to star in Stanley's next project.  Stanley decides to adapt the antiwar novel Paths of Glory, which he films in Germany and unexpectedly meets the love of his life.

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Stanley takes his first crack at filmmaking, starting with shorts and moving up to low-budget independent features.  His family bankrolls his productions and his friends act as cast and crew, but his efforts fail to turn a profit.  As his first marriage begins to crumble, Stanley plays chess for quarters, until a new friend gives him a shot at the big time.

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Stanley Kubrick grows up rooting for the Yankees, playing drums, and watching World War II newsreels at the local movie theater. At age 13, his father gifts him his first camera, which leads to a prestigious job at a famous magazine... and the opportunity to watch a film being made on the streets of New York.

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Actor Sterling Hayden details the worst day of his life, which occurred on the set of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Stanley, from Turner Classic Movies and Criterion, starts September 24.

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Katharina Kubrick recalls life at home with her famous father, where music was a constant presence.

Stanley, the new season of The Plot Thickens, starts September 24.

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