"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 and chilling final scenes in cinematic history: a photograph from the Overlook Hotel's 1921 Fourth of July ball, prominently featuring Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) despite him not being born until much later. The image used in the film was a manipulated version of a real photograph, which had faded into obscurity until recently. Excitingly, the original 1921 Fourth of July ball photograph has now been discovered, 45 years after the movie's release.

Alasdair Spark, a retired academic from the University of Winchester, shared the journey of tracking down this elusive image on Getty's Instagram. He revealed that the photograph was identified by facial recognition software as featuring Santos Casani, a London ballroom dancer. The image was one of three taken by the Topical Press Agency during a St. Valentine's Day Ball on February 14, 1921, at the Empress Rooms in the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington. Spark's post also included a new scan from the original glass-plate negative and other supporting documents.

Spark, along with New York Times staffer Arick Toller and dedicated Redditors, embarked on a challenging quest to locate the photo. Despite numerous dead ends and the fear that the image might be lost forever, their persistence paid off. Spark noted that on-set photographer Murray Close, who captured the image of Nicholson that was superimposed onto Casani, had mentioned the photo was sourced from the BBC Hulton Library. Knowing that Hulton had acquired Topical Press in 1958 and that Getty took over in 1991, Spark searched through Getty's vast archives. They eventually found that the image was licensed to Hawk Films, Kubrick's production company, on October 10, 1978, for use in "The Shining."

Spark concluded by clarifying the photo's date, confirming Kubrick's assertion of 1921 over Joan Smith's claim of 1923. He debunked speculations about the presence of celebrities, bankers, financiers, or even devil worshippers in the photo, stating that it simply depicted a group of ordinary Londoners enjoying a Monday evening, as the Overlook Hotel manager would say, "All the best people."

This discovery is sure to delight fans of "The Shining." Stephen King's novel was published in 1977 and has been adapted into two notable productions: Kubrick's iconic film and Mick Garris' 1997 miniseries, which stayed true to the book.