Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (film)

• Release Date: 1964
• Director(s): Stanley Kubrick
• Writer(s): Peter George; Stanley Kubrick ; Terry Southern
• Principal Actors and Roles: Peter Sellers (Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove); Sterling Hayden (Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper); Slim Pickens (Maj. T. J. "King" Kong); Tracy Reed (Miss Scott); George Scott (Gen. Buck Turgidson)
• Book / Story Film Based On: Red Alert by Peter George

Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (almost invariably abbreviated to simply Dr. Strangelove) is a satirical black comedy about the Cold War policy of mutual assured destruction between the United States and the USSR directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is arguably the greatest political satire ever made.

The movie deals with a very real fear—the possibility that nuclear war could wipe out much of the planet’s human population—by using humor to underscore the absurdity of the arms race. The characters have ridiculous names. The general who initiates the war is named Jack D. Ripper. The commander of a B-52 on its way to attack the Soviet Union is T.J. "King" Kong. The American president is named Merkin; the head of the armed services is Buck Turgidson. The Soviet premier is named Kissov.

The movie is filled with outstanding comic performances. The great actor George C. Scott referred to Buck Turgidson as his favorite role. Peter Sellers gives a tour de force performance in his three parts. And the script is a work of comic genius.

The movie has just four locations. The perimeter of Burpelson Air Force Base from which General Ripper has set the war in motion is one. Another is the interior of Ripper’s office, where Sellers as a British liaison named Mandrake tries to discover the recall code to stop the bomber attack. Third is the interior of the B-52 flown by Major "King" Kong," and the fourth is the bizarre War Room, a huge space with a large table and illuminated world maps somewhere beneath the Pentagon. Against such simple backdrops a masterpiece was created.

The dialogue and action relentlessly propel the dark satire. The insane General Jack D. Ripper wants nuclear war because the Russians are polluting the "precious bodily fluids" of America’s men. When President Merkel is appalled that General Turgidson offers a post-war environment in which fifteen to twenty million Americans have been killed, Turgidson replies, "I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed!" When Merkel calls the Soviet premier to warn him of the impending attack, he first has to apologize to his apparently petulant counterpart because he so rarely phones. He explains "we have a little problem." The Soviet ambassador sneaks photos of the War Room where they are meeting, leading to a struggle with Turgidson and one of the movie’s most-memorable lines: "You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!" Turgidson has a sexual conversation with his mistress during all of this. Dr. Strangelove (also played by Sellers), the ex-Nazi scientist advising the president and his generals in the War Room, has a mechanical arm with a mind of its own, suddenly snapping into a Nazi salute or trying to strangle Strangelove himself. The insanity of nuclear arms and the real threat of unleashing Armageddon is powerfully lampooned with such absurdities.

The movie was scheduled for release on November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was assassinated. Because they felt the public would be in no mood for a political satire, the production team delayed release until after the first of the year.

Plot

General Jack D. Ripper is convinced that fluoridation of water is a Soviet plot to sap the "precious bodily fluids" of America’s young men. He orders a nuclear attack against the Soviets and warns his men to defend the base. He then locks himself in his office with a British liaison officer, Mandrake, who tries in various ways to learn the recall code to stop the bomber pilots.

In the War Room in Washington, DC, President Merkin Muffey tries to prevent global destruction by explaining to Soviet Premier Kissov that it is all a mistake. Aboard a B-52 with orders to bomb Moscow, Major "King" Kong rallies his men and prepares for battle. General Buck Turgidson weighs the "pragmatic" possibilities of the war’s outcome.

Muffey offers to reveal the locations of the planes and their targets so the Soviets can defend themselves. He then learns that the Soviets have built a Doomsday Machine that will destroy life on earth with radiation if they are attacked. The wheelchair-bound Dr. Strangelove points out that such a device cannot deter an attack if no one knows about it. The Soviets explain they were going to tell everyone "next week."

U.S. Army finally takes control of Ripper’s command, Burpelson Air Force Base. Ripper kills himself so the secret code cannot be tortured out of him, but Mandrake figures it out. All of the planes are recalled except Major Kong’s, which cannot receive radio transmissions. Major Kong rides a nuclear bomb out of his plane’s bomb bay like a cavalry mount on attack, waving his hat as it speeds toward its target and detonates.

Dr. Strangelove speculates about housing elite men deep underground with ten beautiful women for every man in order to preserve humanity. They will need to remain in underground mines for ninety years, he suggests. Turgidson is intrigued by the male/female ratio. The president is aghast.

Strangelove suddenly stands up, crying "Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!" Stock shots of repeated nuclear explosions fill the screen as Vera Lynn sings the World War II ballad, "We’ll Meet Again."

Significance

It is not possible to overstate the importance of Dr. Strangelove. As a period piece alone it has significance. Some people in the early 1960s really did believe that fluoridating water was a Communist plot. The United States and the USSR really did threaten to annihilate at least the Northern Hemisphere. Serious people truly did contemplate how many millions of human beings could be sacrificed while "winning" a nuclear war. If nothing else, the movie reminds viewers of these realities, but in a hilarious way.

In 1989 it was among the inaugural group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. It appears on virtually every "100 Best Movies" list, beginning with the American Film Institute’s. The AFI also ranks it third on its "100 Years . . . 100 Laughs" list. A 2002 pool of directors rated it the fifth-greatest film of all time and the only comedy in the top ten.

Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Strangelove set a gold standard for political satire. All subsequent satires have been measured against the film.

Awards and nominations

Nominated

• Academy Award (1964) Best Picture
• Academy Award (1964) Best Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Academy Award (1964) Best Actor: Peter Sellers
• Academy Award (1964) Best Screenplay (Adapted): Peter George, Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern

Bibliography

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Ebert, Roger. "Dr. Strangelove (1964)." Great Movies. Ebert Digital LLC, July 11, 1999. Web. 27 August 2015.

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Henriksen, Margot A. Dr. Strangelove’s America: Society and Culture in the Atomic Age. Berkeley: U of California P, 1997. Print.

Kuberski, Philip. Kubrick’s Total Cinema: Philosophical Themes and Formal Qualities. London: Bloomsbury, 2012. Print.

Kubrick, Stanley, Peter George, Terry Southern, et al. 1964 Shooting Script: Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. N.p.: U Reprints, 2012. Print.

Ruchti, Ulrich, Sybil Taylor and Alexander Walker. Stanley Kubrick, Director: A Visual Analysis. New York: Norton, 2000. Print.