I know it's a different society, and McDowell was younger, but 14? Come on.

Malcolm McDowell was about 25? 30? Would it have been better had they cast an actual 14 year old to play the part? I dunno, didn't really take me away from the story any. Of course, I saw the movie first, then later read the book.

Did they state that in the movie? I know he was in the book. I assumed he was more like 17-18 in the movie.

Don't think they ever said he was 14 in the film.

In the book, I thought he said he was 15 when he was arrested. I just read the book again last year, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: Found it. At the end of Chapter 7, Part 1:

I always assumed that in the movie he was just supposed to be a high schooler in his late teens. The two girls he took home from the record store in the movie were definitely older than their ten year old counterparts in the book.

I'm pretty sure his age was never stated in the film.

He told me he was 18.

Now the question is: where did this age thing come up to prompt this thread?

Romeo and Juliet were supposed to be 15 and 14, respectively, in Shakespeare's play.



In the all-star 1936 MGM version, Leslie Howard (Romeo) was 42 and Norma Shearer (Juliet) was 33. And Romeo's buddy, Mercutio, was played by 53-year-old John Barrymore.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure the film never made Alex that young of a child. He was like High School age based on what those around him say and what he himself was part of in the system.

Why would anyone use the book to age Alex from the film? Never hold the source text as the text to take information from a film. If you have to do that... well... guess the film sucked in showing you the bible it sets up for you.

He looked like he was pushing 40 in the movie, but malcolm McDowell has always seemed older than he was.

Actually, all of the droogies looked like they at were least thirty. Which sort of works on its own, the idea that these are violent man-children. Alex's parents, his mother in particular, seemed rather old.

My mistake. He mentions his sentence as 14 years, for some reason I temembered that as his age.

But also not that weird considering how casting worked back in the day. It's gotten better w/ some weird casting ages here and there.

A little high for only 20 minutes of action.

I think Kubrick made the right decision to go with an older cast. The film was extremely controversial in its time. Had he used real early-teen actors I think it would have been even MORE shocking. Too shocking.

Also, from my experience, genuine teen actors can only really pull off a naturalistic performance. The book and Kubrick's vision called for a highly stylized formal piece of acting that I doubt you could find a kid could do. Someone brought up Romeo and Juliet. Professional performances of the piece seldom use actual 14 and 15 year old actors because they simply aren't up to it.

I've always thought somebody should remake the movie, but instead of setting it in a weird, dystopian future, make it the present day with Alex a modern gangbanger. The difference in how people view the movie would be very interesting.

Ever see a movie called Wassup Rockers? It's by Larry Clark the guy who did Kids. It uses real teens who are sort of delinquents who end up in Clockwork Orange type entanglements with cops and wealthy homeowners.

I agree that ACO done without the stylization would probably be even more shocking. It's always interested me that Kubrick went with an approach that distanced the audience a bit.

Olivia Hussey was 15 when she played Juliet, and most people agree she was excellent.

By the way, I first saw that movie in my 10th grade English class and, needless to say, the guys in the class were very "enamored" with her performance. Especially the balcony scene and the very brief nude scene.

All the guys in my class went wild for the balcony scene too:

NSFW image of non-sexual nudity from a 1968 movie

Alan Ruck was 30 when he played a supposedly 17 year old Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. No one seems to question that.

Even worse Robin Williams was 45 when he played a 10 year old in Jack. No one ever brings that up.