click to enlarge PHOTO BY NICK MILLER

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition opened at the Contemporary Jewish Museum opened this week.

click to enlarge PHOTO BY NICK MILLER

Jan Harlan was executive producer of Stanley Kubrick's final four films. He is also the brother of Christiane Kubrick, the filmmakers widow. Harlan appeared in the Bay Area on Thursday at the opening of the new Kubrick exhibit.

click to enlarge PHOTO BY NICK MILLER

Jack's typewriter from The Shining.

click to enlarge PHOTO BY NICK MILLER

Danny's sweater in The Shining.

There's a tiny room in the back of the new Stanley Kubrick exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum , and inside are all sorts of storyboards, photos, sketches, scripts and more — but for the films that Kubrick never got around to making.On one wall, a shelf holds dozens of books on Napoleon Bonaparte, which is just "part" of Kubrick's collection of literature and research on the French general. In fact, an entire scene-by-scene outline of the oft-discussedepic that the legendary filmmaker never even started shooting is on display as well.I was standing in this little room, marveling at all this Kubrick pre-production research — his vast tome of tireless preparation — when his longtime executive producer Jan Harlan walked in. I explained to him how stunned I was to witness all this prep for films such asand, which also never saw the dark of a movie theater. It was a bit sad, in fact.Harlan explained that this was but a fraction of Kubrick's pre-production research for those unmade movies. He said Kubrick loved pre-production more than anything; he lost himself in exhaustive research and endless development. Not unlike how he also loved the editing process."But he hated filming."OK, so Harlan didn't say these exact words; I'm paraphrasing because, caught up in our conversation, I did not take notes. But this was precisely his point: One of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century didn't really enjoy the process of standing behind a camera and actuallya movie.And that's what's so cool about: It's a window into the the master filmmakers behind-the-scenes process. Sure, the gallery has on display all the legendary props from Kubrick's thirteen feature films — the droog costume from, the apes and astronauts fromand seeing all these costumes and props in person was an overwhelming experience for someone reared on Kubrick's powerful, inimitable images.Yet it was the small items in the gallery, such as the letter Harlan sent to Kubrick about his discovery of the Steadicam — which he used onand, in turn, transformed modern filmmaking as we know it — that wowed. I spent nearly two hours in the exhibit, and could have lingered through the afternoon.The exhibit is also a reminder that, unlike most modern-day genre filmmakers, Kubrick's films offered deeper insight. He clearly was a master story-teller. But his legacy is films that with a message for all of humanity."Stanley was a moralist!" Harlan practically shouted during our chat. Lovers of his films know this, yet Kubrick-as-moral-compass of course belies our public's perception of the very private man, who created some of the most contentious films of the last millennium (thinkand, in particular).Kubrick's lens was harsh and brutal. Yet, by all accounts, he was a loving family man. And this tenderness, the attention to detail and passion for the craft, comes across in the exhibit.At the press event this past Wednesday, Harlan and Kubrick's daughter, Katharina Kubrick, were outgoing, funny, generous with their time, and very down to earth. Katharina even told me about her battle with Warner Bros. over's posters: She designed stunning and theatrical one-sheets with masks of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's faces, but the studio rejected them for much more generic artwork.Harlan also dished on some behind-the-scenes details, especially regarding, including a scene that was storyboarded but never filmed: A jealousy dream where Bill (Tom Cruise) imagines his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), having sex with a man while riding a horse (Harlan said Kidman was down to make the scene, but it was eventually scrapped).(A side note: Harlan and not seen the orgy scene fromlucky man! — so he could not comment on the sequence oft-compared to the misunderstoodilluminati-style screwfest. Oh, and I didn't have time to troll the rumor mill and ask him about any Kubrick-illuminati gossip, sorry.)Before the media-preview tour began on Wednesday, Harlan gave a brief introduction to a room full of reporters. During his chat, he explained how he's often asked to summarize Kubrick in one sentence. His response:"A man once loved a one eyed woman, so much that it seemed to him all other woman had one eye too many."Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition