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

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of "The Shining" is renowned for its haunting final scene, featuring a photograph from the Overlook Hotel's 1921 Fourth of July ball with Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) prominently displayed, despite the character not yet being born. The original photograph used in the film had long remained a mystery until recently, when it was rediscovered 45 years after the movie's release.

Alasdair Spark, a retired academic from the University of Winchester, shared insights into the process of locating the original image 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, Kensington." Spark's post also included a new scan of the image from its original glass-plate negative, along with other supporting handwritten documents.

The search for the photograph was a collaborative effort involving Spark, New York Times staffer Arick Toller, and numerous enthusiastic Redditors. Spark described the journey as a "wild goose chase," noting, "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."

Spark further revealed that on-set photographer Murray Close, who captured the image of Nicholson that was superimposed over Casani, had mentioned that the original picture came from the BBC Hulton Library. Knowing that Hulton had acquired Topical Press in 1958 and that Getty took over in 1991, Spark decided to search through Getty's extensive image archives. This led to the discovery that the photograph had been 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 sure to delight fans of "The Shining." Stephen King's original novel was published in 1977 and has been adapted into film twice: Kubrick's iconic 1980 version and Mick Garris' faithful 1997 miniseries.