Clockwork Orange, A (1971)

Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.

UK 1971

Awards/Nominations/Notes: (AAN)

Produced by: Warner Brothers
Sound Mix: Mono.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi surreal violence sexual music futuristic psychological cult brainwash
Certificate(s): Finland:K-16 UK:(Banned) USA:R
Color.

Running time: 137

Plot Summary for Clockwork Orange, A (1971)

In a futuristic Britain, a gang of teenagers go on the rampage every night, beating and raping helpless victims. After one of the boys quells an uprising in the gang, they knock him out and leave him for the police to find. He agrees to try "aversion therapy" to shorten his jail sentence. When he is eventually let out, he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members are still after him.

Summary written by:

Colin Tinto {colint@spider.co.uk}

Alex, a teenage hooligan in a near-future Britain, gets jailed by the police. There he volunteers as guinea pig for a new aversion therapy proposed by the government to make room in prisons for political prisoners. "Cured" of his hooliganism and released, he is rejected by his friends and relatives. Eventually nearly dying, he becomes a major embarrassment for the government, who arrange to cure him of his cure. A pivotal moment is when he and his gang break into an author's home: the book he is writing (called "A Clockwork Orange") is a plea against the use of aversion therapy, on the grounds that it turns people into Clockwork Oranges (Ourang is Malay for "Man"): they are not being good from choice (sentiments later echoed by the prison chaplain). The film reflects this: many bad scenes in a Clockwork Orange are accompanied by jolly music; if we are to experience them as we should, we have to do it consciously, by realising they are bad, and not because the director tells us so through the use of music and images.

Summary written by:

Steven Pemberton {Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl}

Alex, a violent juvenile in the near future, is caught after a number of brutal rapes and murders. While imprisoned, he submits to a controversial experiment to make criminals ill at the mildest suggestion of violence or conflict. Now Alex's victims want to welcome him back into society with the same enthusiasm Alex had always exhibited when performing his crimes.

Summary written by:

Tim Kretschmann {Tim.K@VirComm.com}

Genre(s):

Sci-Fi surreal violence sexual music futuristic psychological cult brainwash

Directed by

Stanley Kubrick (AAN) (GGN)

Cast in credits order. Believed to be complete

Malcolm McDowell (GGN)......Alex
Patrick Magee ......Frank Alexander
Michael Bates ......Chief Guard
Warren Clarke ......Dim
John Clive ......Stage Actor
Adrienne Corri ......Mrs. Alexander
Carl Duering ......Dr. Brodsky
Paul Farrell ......Tramp
Clive Francis ......Lodger
Michael Gover ......Prison Governor
Miriam Karlin ......Cat Lady
James Marcus ......Georgie
Aubrey Morris ......Deltoid
Godfrey Quigley ......Prison Chaplin
Sheila Raynor ......Alex's mother
Madge Ryan ......Dr. Branum
John Savident ......Conspirator
Anthony Sharp ......Minister
Philip Stone ......Alex's father
Pauline Taylor ......Psychiatrist
Margaret Tyzack ......Conspirator
Steven Berkoff ......unknown......
Lindsay Campbell ......unknown......
Michael Tarn ......Pete
David Prowse ......Physical therapist
Jan Adair ......unknown......
Gaye Brown ......unknown......
Peter Burton ......unknown......
John Carney ......unknown......
Vivienne Chandler ......unknown......
Richard Connaught ......unknown......
Carol Drinkwater ......unknown......
Lee Fox ......unknown......
Cheryl Grunwald ......unknown......
Gillian Hills ......unknown......
Craig Hunter ......unknown......
Shirley Jaffe ......unknown......
Virginia Wetherell ......unknown......
Neil Wilson ......unknown......
Katya Wyeth ......unknown......
remainder of cast listed in alphabetical order
Godfrey Guigley ......Chaplain

Cinematography by

John Alcott

Music by

Wendy Carlos
Edward Elgar (from "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1")
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (from "Scheherazade")
Gioacchino Rossini (from "Barber of Seville/Wilhelm Tell/La Gazza Ladra")
Ludwig Van Beethoven (from "9th Symphony")

Written by

Anthony Burgess (novel)
Stanley Kubrick (SAM:AAN)

Costume design by

Milena Canonero

Edited by

William (II) Butler (AAN)

Produced by

Stanley Kubrick

Also

Lou Bogue (best boy)
Frank Wardale (gaffer)