Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

An insane general starts a process to nuclear holocaust that a war room of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Terry Southern (screenplay),

Stars:

Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

Top 250 #38 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Sellers	...	Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove
George C. Scott	...	Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson
Sterling Hayden	...	Brig. Gen. Jack Ripper
Keenan Wynn	...	Col. 'Bat' Guano
Slim Pickens	...	Maj. 'King' Kong
Peter Bull	...	Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky
James Earl Jones	...	Lt. Lothar Zogg
Tracy Reed	...	Miss Scott
Jack Creley	...	Mr. Staines
Frank Berry	...	Lt. Dietrich
Robert O'Neil	...	Adm. Randolph
Glenn Beck	...	Lt. Kivel (as Glen Beck)
Roy Stephens	...	Frank
Shane Rimmer	...	Capt. 'Ace' Owens
Hal Galili	...	Burpelson AFB Defense Team Member

Storyline

Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, he believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper's executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, are discussing measures to stop the attack or mitigate its blow-up into an ...

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Plot Keywords:

General | Bomber | War Room | U.s. President | Doomsday | 

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Taglines:

the hot-line suspense comedy

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, some violent content, sexual humor and mild language

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

29 January 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Delicate Balance of Terror

Filming Locations:

Arctic

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hawk Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film led to actual changes in policy to ensure that the events depicted could never really occur in real life.

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Goofs

During the ending of the opening credits it says "Base on the Novel Red Alert" instead of "Based on the Novel Red Alert".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: For more than a year, ominous rumors had been privately circulating among high-level Western leaders that the Soviet Union had been at work on what was darkly hinted to be the ultimate weapon: a doomsday device. Intelligence sources traced the site of the top secret Russian project to the perpetually fog-shrouded wasteland below the Arctic peaks of the Zhokhov Islands. What they were building or why it should be located in such a remote and desolate place no one could say.

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Crazy Credits

The screenplay title is incorrectly spelled. It reads: 'Base' on the book "Red Alert" by Peter George. This is pointed out on the DVD supplement about the making of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire (2005)
During charades, Chris gueses that Joe is Dr Strangelove

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Soundtracks

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
(1863) (uncredited)
Music by the Union Army bandmaster, Louis Lambert
In the score often during the flight of Major 'King' Kong's aircraft

User Reviews

Subtle and Symbolic

Entertainment Weekly called this one of the funniest 100 movies ever made. It also happens to be one of the most disturbing movies made. The humor is right there in your face, however, there is always an underlining political critique under every character, every line, and every government representation. Slim Pickins is the never quit Airman. He is a representative of our entire military system of the time. The president, played beautifully by Peter Sellers, is a demure, calm presence trying to deal with the Russian premiere. His perfect counterpart is a war hungry General, ready to accuse the Russians of any small infraction. This leads to one of the funniest lines in the whole movie. Sellers also plays a British airman who has to deal with the crazed general in the usual polite British manner. Seller's third role is that of the title character, Dr. Strangelove, a former nazi and weapons designer for the Americans. He represents the scientific community of that time period; those who worked tirelessly to build a better bomb. These characters, all of them strongly parodying a cross section of society make for an odd story. The final scene, while played for laughs, is actually a frightening image of a communist future. The final moments are frightening in their truth leading one to put themselves in a position of the characters. Dr. Strangelove is the funniest disturbing film I've ever seen.