Excerpt from: The New York Times - 4 July 1999

Title: What They Say About Stanley Kubrick

Gerald Fried (teen-age friend; composer of scores for "Day of the Fight," "Fear and Desire," "Killer's Kiss," "The Killing" and "Paths of Glory")

When we were teen-agers hanging around the Bronx, he was just another bright, neurotic, talented guy -- just another guy trying to get into a game with my softball club and mess around with girls like the rest of us. In those days there were no film schools. We had to learn by going to movies. Our discussions after seeing them were primarily listening to Stanley kind of smirking at the tasteless sentimentality of most pictures.

....I knew Toba [Metz], his first wife. They were still in their teens -- it almost didn't count. It was a legal marriage, but they were, like, dating. There was no exchange of any deep affection. Now with Ruth [Sobotka, Kubrick's second wife], she was a match. She was a dancer -- bright and good-looking and accomplished, and there was a lot of sparring, but I thought they were quite perfect for each other. He wrote that dance sequence [in "Killer's Kiss"] for her. And she also was the costume designer or something. So I was surprised and kind of uncomfortable about their breaking up.

....He was kind of an awkward kid, and the fact that he was bright and talented made it even worse. He just wanted to be a regular guy, as we all do, and he wasn't and it was very painful for him. So when he found out that he was smart and successful and all that, then it went the other way -- everything had to be grand.

By the time we got to "Paths of Glory," he was already "Stanley Kubrick" and then it was a struggle -- I had to rationalize every note. It was fun and stimulating, but he was already sure that he knew it all. He was also a drummer, and the score for "Paths of Glory" was the first all-percussion score. As I remember, he also heard every single machine-gun sound effect before it went into the picture.

We had a date once to play tennis in Central Park, and it was around 10 to 2 and our court was reserved for 2, and he said, "Hey, we better run because if you're not there one minute before, they could give the court away." I said, "Stanley, for God's sake, keep your paranoia to yourself, man." And, of course, somebody showed up one minute before and took the court from us. So if you worry about enough things, sooner or later your paranoia is going to be fulfilled. And he worried about enough things. It was as if his success gave him permission to let his fears predominate.

.... I hope his last hour was cool. I played on a ball club called the Barracudas in the Bronx, and I remember Stanley -- he was about 18, 19 -- he wanted to get into a game and he wasn't a good athlete and the guys didn't want him and I said, "Come on, give him a chance." We let him play, and his face lit up.