- On what language was the Droogs’ slang based?
Russian. In the film and the book the slang is called "Nadsat,"
which is the Russian suffix for "teen."
- What was the original ending to the British version of Anthony
Burgess’ novel, which was cut out by the American publisher and
not used by Kubrick for the film?
Burgess’ original novel, which was published in England, concludes
with a final chapter in which Alex grows up, renounces his violent
ways, gets married and has children, becoming a productive member
of society.
When the novel was released in the U.S., the American publishing
company cut out this last chapter. It was this version of the book
on which Kubrick based his script.
When later informed about Burgess’ original ending, Kubrick
expressed a strong preference for the American version, feeling that
it was more in keeping with the overall tone and message of the story.
- What does the title "A Clockwork Orange" mean?
The title comes from an old Cockney expression, "as queer as
a clockwork orange," meaning very strange or unusual.
- Why was A Clockwork Orange not legally shown or available
in the United Kingdom between 1973 and 2000?
The book and the film were extremely controversial in England,
due to the violent and sexual content of the story. Warner Bros.
and Kubrick were very cautious with the initial release of the film
in the U.K., playing it in only one theater for over a year before
opening it wider, once the initial controversy seemed to have died
down.
However the film still caused a major stir, and effectively was
blamed by the British media and anti-violence advocates for all
sorts of real-life violent acts throughout the country between 1972
and 1973.
Because of this, Kubrick asked Warner Bros. to pull the film from
theaters. Thereafter Kubrick and the studio enforced a ban on showings
of A Clockwork Orange in any format in Great Britain that
lasted until 2000.
In an interview after Kubrick’s death, his wife Christiane
related that one of the reasons for this was that he and his family
had received several death threats because of the film.