Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of The Shining features one of the most chilling final shots in cinematic history: a photograph from the Overlook Hotel’s 1921 Fourth of July ball, prominently displaying Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson), who, in reality, had not yet been born at the time the photo was supposedly taken. This iconic image was created by superimposing Nicholson onto an existing photograph, which had faded into obscurity until recently. After 45 years since the film's release, the original 1921 Fourth of July ball photograph has finally been rediscovered.
Alasdair Spark, a retired academic from the University of Winchester, detailed the journey to find this historic image on Getty's Instagram. He explained that facial recognition software had previously identified the unknown man in the photograph as Santos Casani, a London ballroom dancer. The photo, one of three taken by the Topical Press Agency, was captured at a St. Valentine's Day Ball on February 14, 1921, at the Empress Rooms in the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington. Spark's post included a new scan from the original glass-plate negative, along with other supporting handwritten documents.
The search for the image was a collaborative effort involving Spark, New York Times staffer Arick Toller, and dedicated Redditors. Initially, the task seemed daunting as every lead related to Casani failed to match, and some potential sources did not have the image. Spark noted, "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's investigation was spurred by information from on-set photographer Murray Close, who had used the original image to create the film's final shot. Close mentioned that the photograph was sourced from the BBC Hulton Library. Knowing that Hulton had acquired Topical Press in 1958 and that Getty Images took over in 1991, Spark decided to search through Getty's vast collection. This 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 clarified the timeline, stating, "Joan Smith had said the photo dated from 1923. Stanley Kubrick had said 1921 and he was correct." He also debunked various theories about the photograph's content, asserting that it depicted "a group of ordinary London people on a Monday evening," with no celebrities or other notable figures present, except for the superimposed image of Jack Nicholson.
This revelation is sure to delight fans of The Shining. Stephen King’s novel, released in 1977, has been adapted twice: once by Kubrick and again in a more book-faithful 1997 miniseries directed by Mick Garris.
