FAQ for
A Clockwork Orange (1971) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for A Clockwork Orange can be found here.

Yes. A Clockwork Orange (1962) was written by British novelist Anthony Burgess [1917-1993].

Yes. Burgess himself adapted the book twice. Both plays feature musical numbers. The second version, called "A Clockwork Orange 2004" was produced at the Barbican in London in 1990 with Phil Daniels as Alex.

No. The original version of the book has 21 chapters. Back in 1962, the American publisher decided not to include the last chapter, as the novel would then finish on an ambiguous note. Burgess, whilst not pleased at the interference, accepted the change. Stanley Kubrick's film was adapted from the version of the book published in the United States, and therefore the movie has a different ending.

The simple answer is that it is derived from an old English expression "Queer as a Clockwork Orange," meaning something very strange. In the novel, Anthony Burgess (the writer's) book is called "A Clockwork Orange," but this was left out of the movie. However, in a 1986 Introduction to the first American edition of the book to contain the final chapter, Anthony Burgess says "A human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange - meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil." He goes on to say "the important thing is moral choice." When Alex cannot choose to perform good or evil (after the Ludovico treatment), he has become a clockwork orange. Burgess also states that the Malaysian word "orang" means "man" in English, so "A Clockwork Orange" means "a clockwork man", which is what Alex has become by the end of the film, figuratively.

At the time it was released it was considered too grotesque for cinema, with the strong violence and extreme sexual assault and rape, but there was an edited version released in the USA in 1973 to a high R. All home video releases in modern times are the original X rated version. It should also be noted that at the time the X rating had not acquired the association with pornography that it has today, but was instead regarded as a legitimate rating for a film that wanted to deal with extreme issues. This is evidenced by the fact that the film was still nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The setting is an unspecified near future. The implication of the droogs' adoption of a language laced with Russian-derived words is that the Eastern bloc has either taken over Britain, or become influential.

There is. According to The Korova Milk Bar site, The Korova Milk Bar® has now opened in the city of White Plains, New York. Centrally located, the bar is easy to drive to and within five minutes of the Metro-North Railroad. The bar first opened in NYC's Alphabet City in 1997 and had a successful 10-year run before being sold.

The milk has drugs in it. If you listen closely, Alex names all the drugs during the opening scene: "The Korova Milk Bar sells Milk Plus: milk plus synthemesc, vellocet, or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This will sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultraviolence." You can also see the names of the drugs spelled out on the walls of the Bar behind them in the first shot. Novelist Anthony Burgess has stated that Alex drinking milk is symbolic of his infantile, child-like nature.

Probably not. The two women from the record store followed Alex back to his room willingly, and undressed willingly. The woman at the end is on top, and isn't trying to get away. But in the book, Alex did rape the girls from the record store. They were very young (10 years old), and he got them drunk and raped them.

Some people don't believe there is one, but most believe when Alex listens to Beethoven in his room after the rape, he's masturbating. In the book, it's made clear he's naked during this part, but he also says that his hands were behind his head. McDowell's commentary track on the 2007 DVD release sheds a bit more light on this issue: He mentions that he wasn't masturbating and that it wasn't Kubrick's intention. Malcolm says that he was just taking his boots off, hence the movement of his shoulders. However, it can still be implied that Alex was gratifying himself.

Credit to the music guide on the boards.

"Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary" by Henry Purcell, adapted by Wendy Carlos - This is heard during the films opening titles; it is played again immediately after the rape scene at the beginning; also when the topless girl appears before Alex onstage and when the police (his former droogs) beat him up. See here. There is a second version that is played when Alex returns to his parent's apartment towards the beginning. The second version is heard again when the newspaper headlines are shown regarding Alex's suicide attempt. See here.

"La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)" by Gioachino Rossini - This is played when Alex and his droogs have the rumble with Billyboy and take their drive in the country. It is also heard when Alex knocks Dim, and Georgie into the lake and when the droogs break into the catlady's home. See here.

"9th symphony, 2nd movement" by Ludwig van Beethoven - This is the music Alex plays in his room. See here. An adapted electronic (suicide scherzo) version is also played in the writer's home just before Alex attempts suicide. See here.

"9th symphony, 4th movement" by Ludwig van Beethoven, - This adapted electronic version is heard when Alex is in the music store talking with the two girls and is played again during the Ludovico technique when he has his catharsis. See here. Another orchestral/choral segment is heard at the end when the newspaper photographers come to take pictures of him at the hospital. See here.

"William Tell Overture" by Gioachino Rossini - An adapted electronic version is played during the threesome in Alex's bedroom. See here. An orchestral segment of it is played when Alex is informed by his parent's that his old room has been rented out to a boarder and his snake has died. See here.

"Scheherazade: The Story of the Kalandar Prince" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Played during Alex's biblical fantasy.

"Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major" by Edward Elgar. - This is heard when the minister of the interior visits the prison. See here.

"Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 in G major" by Edward Elgar. - This is played when Alex is taken to the Ludovico facility by the prison guard. See here.

"Timesteps" by Wendy Carlos - This is heard during Alex's first session of the Ludovico technique. See here.

"Overture to the Sun" by Terry Tucker - This is played during the stage demonstration where Alex is assaulted by a man and made to lick his shoe. See here.

"I Want to Marry A Lighthouse Keeper" by Erika Eigen - This is heard when Alex returns home to his parent's apartment after being released from state custody. See here.

"Singin' in the Rain" by Nacio Herb Brown, performed by Gene Kelly - This is played during the closing credits. See here.

The times and scenes these songs were played in the movie can be found at 'what-song'

In the book, Alex is 15 at the beginning, 17 when he gets out of jail, and by the time of the book's end, he's 18. In the movie, his age is never mentioned.

In the film, Stanley Kubrick originally planned for F. Alexander (Patrick Magee) to discover that Alex was the person who raped his wife by having Alex mention the word "Horrorshow." Alex would have been talking, and would have said "Horrorshow" in the conversation, making F. Alexander suspicious, and finally he would have realized who Alex really was after getting Alex to repeat the word again and again. However, this was changed on set, just before filming. In the book, the writer finds out because Alex has knowledge of the house when he is taken in. Specifically, Alex expresses his surprise when the author says he will call his friends on a telephone (Remember, the first thing said to Alex in the first encounter was that they didn't have a telephone). From there, the author puts the pieces together from further conversation with Alex, finally realizing the truth after Alex gets upset at the mention of the word "dim." This is when F. Alexander starts to become really suspicious -- when Alex mistakenly mentions the word "Dim" and the writer remembers that name.

In the film, it is never made clear where Pete (Michael Tarn) ends up. We learn that Georgie (James Marcus) and Dim (Warren Clarke) have gone on to become police officers, who take their first opportunity to beat Alex within an inch of his life (post-treatment, Alex can no longer defend himself, which is public knowledge via the newspapers), but the subject of Pete is never revisited. In the novel, Alex has a chance encounter with Pete (who is almost 20) and finds that his former droog has grown up quite a bit: He's found a woman with whom to settle down and no longer speaks in Nadsat. According to Burgess' vision, this makes Alex question his path and purpose. This takes place after Alex has declared himself 'cured', and has returned to a life of crime with a new set of Droogs. Seeing his old friend Pete all grown up and living a normal life, Alex is driven to consider giving up his days as a thug and cleaning up his act once and for all. Also, in the novel, Georgie dies whilst Alex is in prison (while trying to escape a robbery, he trips and a man beats him to death), and the other policemen with Dim that beats up Alex is in fact, Billy Boy (the gang leader Alex and his Droogs have a fight with near the start)

It wasn't a dream, the doctors and nurses were in his head, fixing his treatment, so he'd no longer get sick at the thought of sex and violence.

The person drawn is Alex, and he is holding his britva (razor). And he is leaning through a enlarged "A" (Alex) with a removed eye as a cufflink (you can spot it throughout the movie) in the same hand as the razor. In the arch below the "A" is one of the Korova Milkbar mannequins.

That's left ambiguous in the film, however he was given back the power to choose to do good or evil. That's what he means by "I was cured alright." In the book, he joins a new gang of droogs after he was cured, but later decides that it might be time to give up this lifestyle, get married and settle down.

There are no known plans for a remake. Supposedly there is a possibility of one; Heath Ledger said he would want to play Alex although that is now impossible due to Ledger's untimely death. Heath did try and bring a part of Alex into the movie The Dark Knight as explained by Gary Oldman in an interview.

It has been written in the past that Malcolm McDowell nearly drowned in the trough scene, where his former droogs, Georgie and Dim, dunk him into an animal trough filled with dirty water and beat him with a nightstick for nearly a minute of screen time. The rumour was that McDowell's breathing apparatus failed. This isn't true. In the Warner Brothers DVD, McDowell does a commentary track and talks about how he used an oxygen tank while he was under the water. He never mentions that it failed or that he almost drowned. Also on one of the documentaries on the DVD, the commentator mentions that McDowell did 28 takes of that scene, so the tank must have been working.

No. Julian (David Prowse) is just there because Frank Alexander was afraid to be alone after the rape and death of his wife. Julian was a bodyguard.

It's called Nadsat. It's a language the author made up for the book, and it's mostly Russian.

The official charge was probably manslaughter, since Alex didn't intend to kill the woman.