20 Things You Didn't Know About A Clockwork Orange

8. The Book Has Two Endings (And The Film Used The Grim One)

In the UK version of the book, distributors were worried that the ending didn't give enough closure to the reader. And, also, it sort of glorified all the misdeeds. So as a solution, Anthony Burgess changed the ending so that Alex expressed regret over his actions and, in a roundabout way, sought contrition.

American audiences had no such problem with the finale though and quite enjoyed the underlying message that sex and violence are, by and large, pretty good. Given the choice between the two endings, Kubrick opted for the latter.