Iconic Final Shot of The Shining Found After 45 Years

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 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 (Jack Nicholson) prominently displayed, despite not being born at the time. The image used in the film was a manipulated version of a real photograph, which had remained elusive until recently. Exciting news for fans: the original 1921 Fourth of July ball photograph has been discovered, 45 years after the film's release.

Alasdair Spark, a retired academic from the University of Winchester, detailed the journey to find this historic 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, 14 February 1921, at the Empress Rooms, the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington." The post also featured 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 an extensive search for 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 wrote. "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."

The historian also mentioned that on-set photographer Murray Close, who captured the image of Nicholson that was superimposed over Casani, had informed him that the original photograph came from the BBC Hulton Library. Knowing that Hulton acquired Topical Press in 1958 and that Getty took over in 1991, Spark decided to sift through the agency’s vast collection. This effort 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." "Joan Smith had said the photo dated from 1923. Stanley Kubrick had said 1921 and he was correct," Spark concluded. "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 film. Stephen King's novel "The Shining" was published in 1977 and has been adapted into two notable versions: Kubrick's iconic film and Mick Garris' more faithful 1997 miniseries.