Stanley Kubrick, the relentless perfectionist who directed some of cinemaās greatest classics, was so sensitive to criticism that, in 1970, he threatened legal action to block publication of a book which dared to discuss flaws in his films.
The director of Spartacus and 2001: A Space Odyssey, warned the bookās author and publisher that he would fight ātooth and nailā and āuse every legal means at his disposalā to prevent its publication ā and he did.
Now, 25 years after his death, the book Kubrick did not want anyone to read is being published, more than half a century late.
The Magic Eye: The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick by Neil Hornick now has three prefaces reflecting its subjectās ruthlessness in trying to block publication and control his image.
Hornick, now 84, from London, said Kubrickās legal threats had come as a shock: āI regard it as a painful episode.ā
I remember reading a biography (autobiography maybe; forget who actually wrote it) on HP Lovecraft where it mentioned his cats name and I thought āwell he was from the 1800ās so product of the timeā¦ā and then find out the dude was so racist, the KKK kicked him out.
