The Shining Fans Pay Tribute to 100th Anniversary of Iconic Movie Moment

Though Stephen King's novel The Shining and Stanley Kubrick's movie are far from being 100 years [...]

By Spencer Perry - July 4, 2021 06:10 pm EDT

Though Stephen King's novel The Shining and Stanley Kubrick's movie are far from being 100 years old (the book is 44 years old as of 2021 and the film is 41) there's one key moment from the movie that is celebrating its centennial. As fans of the movie may recall, the film concludes on the ambiguous close-up on a ghostly photo hanging in The Overlook Hotel, one that features Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance very much a part of the festivities of the hotel. Captioned at the bottom of the image however is the line: "Overlook Hotel, July 4th Ball, July 4th, 1921." Meaning today is 100 years since that event took place.

Not that fans of Kubrick's movie need a reason to celebrate his classic horror movie, but today's date seems like the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to one of the most haunting moments in the entire film. Many viewers have only realized now that the shot at the end of the movie does take place on the day that America celebrates its founding, making today even more special for those eager to watch a less-traditional movie for the Fourth of July. We've collected some of the best tweets about it below.

The Shining is streaming on HBO Max.

We're watching The Shining

It's the 100th anniversary of this Fourth of July party at the Overlook, so we're watching The Shining. pic.twitter.com/r1qXQHsKnD
— Matt Skulls (@GhostGhoul666) July 4, 2021

You've always been the partyman here

Happy Fourth from the Timberline Trail, a 40-mile circle of Mt. Hood. Starting exactly 100 years from the July Fourth Ball at the Overlook Hotel from The Shining, partly filmed here. pic.twitter.com/DEZS38pgNY
— Kevin Gullufsen (@KevinGullufsen) July 4, 2021

It's true

The Shining is a Fourth of July movie.
— Mike Calia (@Michael_Calia) July 4, 2021

From sea to Shining sea

Hope your Fourth of July is Shining! pic.twitter.com/Y6gUVaALw0
— Rick Serrano (@RickSerranoLAT) July 4, 2021

Maybe YOU haven't been...

Surprised we haven’t all been watching the shining on Fourth of July every year.
— dr. ernie luckman (@ErnieLies) July 4, 2021

And here's the ACTUAL photo!

As others have noted, not only is today the Fourth of July, but also the 100th anniversary of the fictional Overlook Hotel July 4th Ball, captured in the closing scenes of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining", and seen here as part of the Design Museum's Kubrick exhibition in 2019. pic.twitter.com/OAeJ1gyj9I
— Gareth (@gawuffy) July 4, 2021

Room 237 is now streaming

In the book it was a New Year's Eve party.

I subscribe to the theory that Kubrick also made the Shining about the Overlook Hotel/America being built on Native lands and lives, and never even pointing it out.

(As well as yes, alcoholism and child abuse, etc.) https://t.co/7p9K7JxC0K
— ROSS MAY (@rossmaywriter) July 4, 2021

Just people living in the moment

100 years ago, not a cellphone in sight just people living in the moment pic.twitter.com/d4ib6gPilI
— Doth (@DothTheDoth) July 4, 2021

Midnight and the stars and you

From 1921 to 2021... Happy 4th of July. #IndependenceDay #TheShining pic.twitter.com/ok2NycNSdv
— Stanley Kubrick (@StanleyKubrick) July 4, 2021