A military-style jacket worn by Stanley Kubrick on the set of ‘Full Metal Jacket’ up for auction
An upcoming auction run by Italian house Aste Bolaffi will be offering up an extensive collection of cinematic artifacts which have been held privately by Stanley Kubrick’s long-time assistant, Emilio D’Alessandro. D’Alessandro spent nearly three decades working for Kubrick as his chauffeur, estate manager and all around man Friday. Once a talented race car driver, D’Alessandro met Kubrick in 1971 and would bond with the director over their mutual love of Mercedes automobiles. In fact, D’Alessandro was the only member of Kubrick’s inner circle who was allowed to drive his prized Unimog—an all-wheel-drive Mercedes truck which Kubrick procured from a farmer while he was filming Barry Lyndon.
Among the treasures saved by D’Alessandro are items related to Kubrick’s many films including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Lolita, and of course The Shining. This brings me to what is perhaps the most compelling piece of Kubrick’s film history included in the auction—a longer cut of the film featuring additional scenes with Shelly Duvall and Danny Lloyd. If you’re up on your Kubrick trivia, you can understand the importance of this cut of the film as Kubrick was well-known for destroying things he didn’t want to be reused in the future—such as any footage from The Shining that was hanging around once filming wrapped. Kubrick also had props and sets used for 2001 destroyed to prevent them from being recycled for use in another film. Another cool piece D’Alessandro held on to was one of the burgundy corduroy jackets worn by Jack Nicholson in The Shining. According to folklore, Nicholson was adamant that his character Jack Torrance wear the jacket in the film and requested Oscar-winning costume designer and Kubrick collaborator Milena Canonero create a few for him. The starting price for the jacket is a cool $10K while bidding for the long cut of the film starts at a mere three-thousand bucks.
I’ve posted some of the cooler items up for grabs at the Aste Bolaffi auction (which starts on March 27th) that would instantly elevate any movie memorabilia collection to a much higher level, below.
A reel from the long cut of ‘The Shining.’
A pair of ink stamps used by the production management of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and a film container.
A vinyl LP of the film soundtrack.
Rugs owned by D’Alessandro that were used in the Colorado Lounge in ‘The Shining.’
One of the burgundy corduroy jackets worn by Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining.’
Overlook Hotel keys with fictional room nubmers from ‘The Shining.’
Kubrick’s Writers Guild of America, West card.
A vintage promotional t-shirt for ‘The Shining.’
An Italian movie poster for ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’
An Italian movie poster for ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.’
An Italian movie poster for ‘A Clockwork Orange.’
An Italian movie poster for ‘Lolita.’
Though it is not part of the auction, I thought it was fitting to include this photo of Stanley Kubrick having a good laugh as the aftermath of a fire that destroyed much of the huge Elstree set used for ‘The Shining,’ (which included a life-size reproduction of the exterior of the Overlook Hotel), smolders behind him. According to Kubrick’s widow Christiane Kubrick, her husband was actually relieved at the news of the fire as it gave him a much needed break from filming.
HT: Bloody Disgusting
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘Come play with us forever and ever’: Custom drum kit inspired by ‘The Shining’
A board game based on ‘The Shining’ actually exists! Download it for FREE!
Unsettling sculptures of the Torrance family from ‘The Shining’ that you can never unsee
Amazing fashion knitwear sold as a tie-in to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
‘This is for fighting. This is for fun’: Stanley Kubrick directs ‘Full Metal Jacket’