Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of The Shining is renowned for its haunting final shot: a photograph from the Overlook Hotel's 1921 Fourth of July ball, featuring Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) prominently despite his anachronistic presence. The original image used for this iconic scene had long remained a mystery until recently, when it was finally unearthed 45 years after the film's release.
Retired academic Alasdair Spark from the University of Winchester shared the fascinating journey of uncovering this historic photograph 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 in Kensington." The post included a new scan from the original glass-plate negative and supporting handwritten documents.
Spark detailed the extensive search he conducted with New York Times staffer Arick Toller and enthusiastic Redditors, describing it as a "wild goose chase." He noted, "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."
The historian also shared insights from on-set photographer Murray Close, who had mentioned that the original image was sourced from the BBC Hulton Library. Knowing that Hulton had acquired Topical Press in 1958 and that Getty later took over in 1991, Spark decided to sift through the agency's vast collection of images. This led to the discovery that the photograph 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 is a heartwarming moment for fans of The Shining. Stephen King's novel, released in 1977, has been adapted into two notable versions: Kubrick's iconic film and Mick Garris' more book-faithful 1997 miniseries.
