Iconic 'The Shining' Final Shot Photo Found After 45 Years

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of "The Shining" features one of the most iconic final shots in genre cinema: a haunting photograph from the 1921 Fourth of July ball at the Overlook Hotel, prominently featuring Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson), who, in reality, had not yet been born. The image used in the film was a real photograph altered to include Nicholson, and the original had long faded into obscurity until its recent rediscovery, 45 years after the film's release.

Retired University of Winchester academic Alasdair Spark shared the journey of finding the original photograph on Getty's Instagram. He revealed that the image was identified by facial recognition software as featuring Santos Casani, a London ballroom dancer, and was one of three taken by the Topical Press Agency at a St. Valentine's Day Ball on February 14, 1921, at the Empress Rooms, Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington. Spark's post included a new scan from the original glass-plate negative, along with supporting handwritten documents.

Spark, along with New York Times staffer Arick Toller and many dedicated Redditors, embarked on a challenging quest to locate the image. Despite initial setbacks and fears that the photo might be lost to history, Spark's knowledge of the BBC Hulton Library's acquisition of Topical Press in 1958, and later Getty's takeover in 1991, led him to sift through the agency's vast collection. Their efforts paid off when they found that the image had been licensed to Hawk Films, Kubrick's production company, on October 10, 1978, for use in "The Shining."

Spark clarified that the photograph, confirmed to be from 1921, did not feature any of the speculated celebrities, bankers, financiers, or presidents, nor any devil worshippers. The only alteration was the addition of Jack Nicholson. The image captured a group of ordinary Londoners enjoying a Monday evening, echoing the Overlook Hotel manager's line about "all the best people."

This rediscovery is a heartwarming revelation for fans of the film. Stephen King's novel "The Shining" was published in 1977 and has been adapted twice: Kubrick's iconic film and a book-accurate 1997 miniseries directed by horror maestro Mick Garris.