History Trivia / AClockWorkOrange

** Alex scams his way into the couple's house by telling her there was a car accident and he needs to use the phone. Nowadays he would have to explain why he didn't use his mobile phone.

* BannedInChina: Banned in Ireland, of course. And as noted below, [[CreatorBacklash Kubrick himself]] got it banned in the United Kingdom until he died. The Brazilian dictatorship banned it for 6 years, until a version censoring the nudity came to theaters.

* BannedInChina: Banned in Ireland, of course. And as noted below, [[CreatorBacklash Kubrick himself]] got it banned in the United Kingdom until he died.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://a-clockwork-orange.wikia.com/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_Wiki A Clockwork Orange Wiki]].

* ActorInspiredElement: When Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, a cricket fan, came in for a costume fitting with his gear, including protective cup, Creator/StanleyKubrick told him to keep them out and incorporate his white shirt and cup into the costume. When [=McDowell=] started to dress by putting the jockstrap under his pants, Kubrick told him it would look better over his trousers instead, and the look made it into the final movie.

* BlackSheepHit: Thanks to the film, ''A Clockwork Orange'' is the book Burgess is most well-known for, when it is not really representative of his work, nor is it considered by, Burgess himself and other critics, to be among his best works (that includes ''Earthly Powers'' and his novels on Creator/ChristopherMarlowe and Creator/WilliamShakespeare).

* BFITop100BritishFilms: #81.

* CreatorBacklash: In an introduction to a later edition of the book, the author called it "pornographic" and an "embarrassment." He considers its main entertainment value to be from "raping and [[{{gorn}} ripping]]." Elsewhere, he reflected that he "should not have written this book" due to the dangers of it being misinterpretated. He was also peeved that it was his most famous work, when he felt he had written better books, and that the wider public only knew him as the man who wrote the book upon which Stanley Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange'' was based.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/AnthonyBurgess himself was critical of the film, for what he saw as its glorification of sex and violence. He was unhappy that Kubrick omitted the book's final chapter (as had the first American edition of the book), which gave Alex some redemption, wanting to give up his old violent ways and looking forward to having a wife and a son, whom he hopes does not turn out like him. The fact that he had sold the film rights for a pittance and stood to gain nothing from the film's success probably didn't warm him to it much either.

* CreatorBacklash:
** The film was the subject of much media hype linking it to violent crimes. After Creator/StanleyKubrick received death threats, along with hearing of the news of two copycat crimes involving the rape of a Dutch girl in the hands of men singing "Singin' in the Rain" and the beating of a 16 year old boy who, while dressed as Alex, beat another boy, he withdrew the film from screening in the UK, even suing arthouse theatres that tried to show it. The ban was only lifted after Kubrick's death.
** Anthony Burgess himself was critical of the film, for what he saw as its glorification of sex and violence. He was unhappy that Kubrick omitted the book's final chapter (as had the first American edition of the book), which gave Alex some redemption, wanting to give up his old violent ways and looking forward to having a wife and a son, whom he hopes does not turn out like him. The fact that he had sold the film rights for a pittance and stood to gain nothing from the film's success probably didn't warm him to it much either.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Different people wanted to adapt the book before Kubrick. This included one version featuring Alex and his droogs as wealthy old men and another version that would have been used as a vehicle for ''Music/TheRollingStones''.

* AccidentallyAccurate: While mini-cassettes never took off as a music medium, the music store Alex visits almost seems to have anticipated the return of vinyl records some 40 years later. Ditto for Alex's apartment, now that elements of 1970's decor have found their way back into style as well.

* TheRedStapler: Sales of [[{{LudwigVanBeethoven}} Beethoven's]] 9th Symphony went up after the film.

* NoStuntDouble: Adrienne Corri as Mrs Alexander was cast after two actresses had already withdrawn from the role, because she was willing to spend hours naked on set balanced on Warren Clarke's shoulder while Kubrick decided which shot he liked the best. According to Malcolm McDowell, before they shot the scene, she joked "Well, Malcolm, you're about to find out that I'm a real redhead."

* RetroactiveRecognition: Julian, Mr Alexander's nurse/protection, is played by a young weightlifter and wrestler named David Prowse. After seeing the movie, George Lucas was so impressed with his size that he offered him the part of [[{{Film/StarWars}} Darth Vader]].

* CreatorBacklash: In an introduction to a later edition of the book, the author called it "pornographic" and an "embarrassment." He considers its main entertainment value to be from "raping and [[{{gorn}} ripping]]."

* CreatorBacklash: The film was the subject of much media hype linking it to violent crimes. After Creator/StanleyKubrick received death threats, along with hearing of the news of two copycat crimes involving the rape of a Dutch girl in the hands of men singing "Singin' in the Rain" and the beating of a 16 year old boy who, while dressed as Alex, beat another boy, he withdrew the film from screening in the UK, even suing arthouse theatres that tried to show it. The ban was only lifted after Kubrick's death.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Alex scams his way into the couple's house by telling her there was a car accident and he needs to use the phone. Nowadays it's 99% certain he would have had a mobile.

* ApprovalOfGod: Inverted; Creator/GeneKelly reportedly did not like the film's take on "Singin' on the Rain" so much that when he met Creator/MalcolmMcDowell at a party some years later, Kelly turned and walked away in disgust, but mostly because Creator/StanleyKubrick went cheap, didn't keep his word and never actually payed Kelly for the song.

* ActorInspiredElement: When Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, a cricket fan, came in for a costume fitting with his gear, including protective cup, Creator/StanleyKubrick told him to keep them out and incorporate his white shirt and cup into the costume. When McDowell started to dress by putting the jockstrap under his pants, Kubrick told him it would look better over his trousers instead, and the look made it into the final movie.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Creator/MalcolmMcDowell had actually scratched his cornea during filming, and thus the man with the eye drops during the Ludovico Technique was an actual medical practitioner. McDowell developed a lasting hatred for eye-drops from filming this scene. Years later, he had to get surgery on his eyes because the retinas were detaching. He believes the two events are related.

* FatalMethodActing: Averted. It is often claimed that Creator/MalcolmMcDowell nearly drowned when his breathing apparatus failed during filming of the waterboarding scene. This is not true. Daily records indicate that the scene was filmed in repeated takes with no stoppage from equipment failure. McDowell has never reported a near drowning, while he does report many similar close calls in other scenes.

** AFIS100Years100Movies10ThAnniversaryEdition: #70

* DawsonCasting: Creator/MalcolMcDowell was 27 during filming. Though Alex's age is never given, he's still supposed to be attending school in the beginning of the film. According to the DVDCommentary, Michael Tarn, who played Pete, was the only actor of the four Droogs who was still a teenager, being 19 at the time of filming.

* ApprovalOfGod: Inverted; Creator/GeneKelly reportedly did not like the film's take on "Singin' on the Rain" so much that when he met Malcolm [=McDowell=] at a party some years later, Kelly turned and walked away in disgust, but mostly because Kubrick went cheap, didn't keep his word and never actually payed Kelly for the song.

* CreatorBacklash: The film was the subject of much media hype linking it to violent crimes. After Stanley Kubrick received death threats, along with hearing of the news of two copycat crimes involving the rape of a Dutch girl in the hands of men singing "Singin' in the Rain" and the beating of a 16 year old boy who, while dressed as Alex, beat another boy, he withdrew the film from screening in the UK, even suing arthouse theatres that tried to show it. The ban was only lifted after Kubrick's death.
* DawsonCasting: Malcolm [=McDowell=] was 27 during filming. Though Alex's age is never given, he's still supposed to be attending school in the beginning of the film. According to the DVDCommentary, Michael Tarn, who played Pete, was the only actor of the four Droogs who was still a teenager, being 19 at the time of filming.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Malcolm [=McDowell=] had actually scratched his cornea during filming, and thus the man with the eye drops during the Ludovico Technique was an actual medical practitioner. Malcolm [=McDowell=] developed a lasting hatred for eye-drops from filming this scene. Years later, he had to get surgery on his eyes because the retinas were detaching. He believes the two events are related.

** The scene with Alex dancing while he sings "Singing In The Rain" was the result of Stanley Kubrick finding the scene too conventional and asking actor Malcolm [=McDowell=] to improvise. Interestingly, Kubrick only told [=McDowell=] to try dancing, not singing. [=McDowell=] did, then spontaneously started singing the song. Kubrick liked it so much that, as soon as the take was over, he immediately left the set to secure the rights to the song.
** The scene in which Alex "pops" his mouth open for the minister to feed him is entirely improvised, as Kubrick got incredibly bored filming the scene; Malcolm McDowell then started acting silly to keep the crew's attention focused. Considering it was used in the film, it's probably safe to say it worked.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Different people wanted to adapt A Clockwork Orange before Kubrick. This included one version featuring Alex and his droogs as wealthy old men and another version that would have been used as a vehicle for ''Music/TheRollingStones''.