Barry Lyndon Barry Lyndon Barry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period drama film by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" by William Makepeace Thackeray. It stars Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard Rossiter and Hardy Krüger. The film recounts the early exploits and later unraveling of a fictional 18th-century Irish rogue and opportunist who marries a rich widow to climb the social ladder and assume her late husband's aristocratic position. Kubrick began production on Barry Lyndon, after his 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick had originally intended to direct a biopic on Napoleon, but lost
The Shining (film) the resemblance. Before making "The Shining", Stanley Kubrick had directed the 1975 film "Barry Lyndon", a highly visual period film about an Irish man who attempts to make his way into the British aristocracy. Despite its technical achievements, the film was not a box office success in the United States and was derided by critics for being too long and too slow. Kubrick, disappointed with "Barry Lyndon"s lack of success, realized he needed to make a film that would be commercially viable as well as artistically fulfilling. Stephen King was told that Kubrick had his staff bring him stacks of