Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Danny Lloyd
Trivia: At various points in the film, Jack Nicholson flicks his eyes to the camera, often only for a few frames, frequently hard to catch. It's deliberate - in one clip of behind the scenes footage Kubrick lies under him while setting up a scene, and specifically tells him to look down to the camera when filming. But there's no specific answer as to why - genre-defying, or to make the audience feel more threatened, or to make the viewers feel like the ghosts he sees. Hard to unsee though.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning when Danny is talking to his Mom and eating a sandwich, the sandwich gets about 5 bites smaller in a split second. (00:04:45)
Jack Torrance: Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me. And it will then take me time to get back to where I was. You understand?
Wendy Torrance: Yeah.
Jack Torrance: Now, we're going to make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing [types], or whether you DON'T hear me typing, or whatever the FUCK you hear me doing, when I'm in here, it means that I am working. THAT means don't come in. Now, do you think you can handle that?
Wendy Torrance: Yeah.
Jack Torrance: Good. Now why don't you start right now and get the fuck out of here?
Question: Whenever Jack is talking to Delbert Grady, Grady mentions his wife and two daughters; one of whom tried to burn the overlook down. My question is, are they the same twin girls Danny has visions of? Whenever Danny sees them dead in the hallway, the vision matches the story Ullman told Jack about Charles Grady. Why does Delbert Grady deny killing his wife and daughters when he was the caretaker, but then contradicts himself and go on to say he "corrected" them? Was he only denying being the caretaker since Jack has always been the caretaker? What is the connection between Delbert's story and what happened with Charles Grady?
Answer: Delbert Grady has always been at the hotel, just as Jack Torrance has...however, "Charles Grady" was one incarnation of the hotel's "caretaker", which Jack Torrance currently is. Delbert, evidenced by his appearance, occupation, and archaic racial views, has been with the hotel since its turn-of-the-century inception, just as Jack, in the photo at the end, has been. We don't know what "spirit-Jack's" function in the Overlook is...we only know that the present Jack (whom Delbert is talking to) embodies the "caretaker" who has always been there, just as Charles Grady did in his time. Delbert refers to his wife and two daughters, whom he did not murder...his "caretaker" version, Charles Grady, did that.