Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of The Shining is renowned for its haunting final scene, featuring a photograph from the Overlook Hotel's 1921 Fourth of July ball, prominently showcasing Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson), despite him not being born at the time. The image used in the film was a real photograph altered to include Nicholson, but the original had faded into obscurity—until now. After 45 years since the film's release, the original 1921 photograph has been rediscovered.
Alasdair Spark, a retired academic from the University of Winchester, detailed the journey of uncovering the image on Getty's Instagram. He explained, "Following the earlier identification by facial recognition software of the unknown man in the photograph at the end of The Shining as Santos Casani, a London ballroom dancer, I can reveal that the photo was one of three taken by the Topical Press Agency at a St. Valentine's Day Ball on February 14, 1921, at the Empress Rooms, the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington." Alongside this revelation, a new scan from the original glass-plate negative and other supporting handwritten documents were shared.
Spark, along with New York Times staffer Arick Toller and numerous dedicated Redditors, embarked on an extensive search to locate the image. He noted the challenges they faced, saying, "It was starting to seem impossible; every cross-reference to Casani failed to match. Other likely places that were suggested didn’t match... There were some places we could not find images for, and we started to fear that meant the photo might be lost to history and never be found."
Spark also shared insights from on-set photographer Murray Close, who had superimposed Nicholson's image onto Casani's for the film. Close mentioned that the original picture was sourced from the BBC Hulton Library. Knowing that Hulton had acquired Topical Press in 1958 and that Getty took over in 1991, Spark decided to sift through Getty's extensive collection of images. This search led to the discovery that the image was licensed to Hawk Films, Kubrick's production company, on October 10, 1978, for use in The Shining.
Spark concluded, "Joan Smith had said the photo dated from 1923. Stanley Kubrick had said 1921, and he was correct... The photo doesn’t show any of the celebrities I had speculated on—the Trix Sisters, for instance—nor the bankers, financiers, or presidents others like Rob Ager have imagined there. No devil worshippers either. Nobody was composited into it except Jack Nicholson. It shows a group of ordinary London people on a Monday evening. 'All the best people,' as the manager of the Overlook Hotel said."
This discovery should resonate deeply with fans of the film. Stephen King's novel, The Shining, was published in 1977 and has been adapted twice: Kubrick's iconic film and Mick Garris' faithful 1997 miniseries.
