Why did the late US film director Stanley Kubrick live in England

Q. So when did he first come to Britain

A. In 1961. He met his wife Christiane in 1957 when she was a 17-year-old actress and he, aged 29, was making Paths Of Glory in Munich. She had been married once before- and Stanley twice. They married in America in 1958 and had two daughters, Anya and Elizabeth. Then they travelled to England to make his thirst film Lolita, drawn at first both by the high quality of UK film technicians and by new tax incentives aimed at helping the British film industry. But for both Kubrick and his wife, friends says, the country was a revelation. 'By the time the filming of Lolita was completed,' Christiane adds, 'we had fallen in love with England.' They settled at a beautiful old manor house at Childwickbury, near Harpenden.

Q. So what's his connection with the Steven Spielberg film

A. The idea of the plot came from Kubrick. And in 1995 he called Spielberg and told him to come over to England so he could float the idea. Yes, Kubrick was important and respected enough to bring Spielberg running.

'Why don't we make it together ' he asked Spielberg. 'It's nearer your sensibility than mine. I produce it, you direct it ' Spielberg agreed and the film - based around a child robot replacing an ailing human youngster - opened to rave reviews last week.

Q. What else did Kubrick direct

A. A big impressive list. In Dr Strangelove (1963) Kubrick followed up the Cuba missile crisis with a comedy about nuclear Armageddon. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) foreshadowed the Apollo moon missions and the American conquest of the final frontier. His 1957 film Paths of Glory painted an unflattering picture of French commanders during the First World War and was banned in France for 20 years. A Clockwork Orange (1971) was banned in many British cinemas for its violence, despite critical acclaim. Lolita (1962), based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel about under-age sex, is still controversial.

Q. So he was one of the few Americans to settle over here

A. Far from it! What about Madonna in her 7 million Georgian house in Notting Hill Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman bought a house in Dulwich after Kubrick brought them to Britain to film his last work, Eyes Wide Shut. The now-estranged couple also own homes in Hertfordshire and Regent's Park. Robert de Niro was reported to have bought a 3.2 million Canary Wharf riverside penthouse. Dustin Hoffman owns a 3 million house in South Kensington next door to Lord Snowdon. Bill Bryson - probably the world's funniest writer - is also moving back here again.

Q. Why

A. Bryson, 49, first came here from Des Moines, Iowa, in 1973, married and worked in newspapers before The Lost Continent, about small-town America, published. It was a huge success in the UK. He moved back to the States for family reasons. Now, returning, he says he admires Britain's quality of life. He said: 'It's astounding. I even admire things that don't work well, like railways or the NHS. The thing I really dislike about the States is it's so much every man for himself. It's not an enlightened way to run a society. I miss some things about America - baseball and the New England weather. Here it stays gloomy for months. But I don't think any country in the world has changed more rapidly, mostly for the better.'

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by Steve Cunningham