"Shining's Iconic Final Shot Photo Found After 45 Years"

Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of The Shining features one of the most iconic final shots in cinematic history: a chilling photograph from the Overlook Hotel’s 1921 Fourth of July ball, prominently featuring Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson), despite the character not being born at the time depicted. The image used in the film was a real photograph that had been altered to include Nicholson, but the original had remained elusive—until now. Forty-five years after the film's release, the original 1921 photograph has finally been discovered.

Alasdair Spark, a retired academic from the University of Winchester, shared details of the image's rediscovery on Getty's Instagram. He explained 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 in the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington. The post included a new scan from the original glass-plate negative and other supporting documents.

Spark, along with New York Times staffer Arick Toller and numerous dedicated Redditors, embarked on a challenging search to find the image. "It was starting to seem impossible, every cross-reference to Casani failed to match. Other likely places that were suggested didn’t match," Spark noted. The team feared the photo might be lost to history until Spark's investigation led him to the BBC Hulton Library, which had acquired the Topical Press Agency in 1958, and later to Getty, which took over in 1991. This trail 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 that the photo, dating back to 1921 as Kubrick had stated, depicted a group of ordinary Londoners on a Monday evening. Contrary to various speculations, no celebrities or notable figures were present in the image, and the only alteration was the addition of Jack Nicholson.

This revelation is a thrilling find 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’ 1997 miniseries, which closely followed the book.