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

An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a War Room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Terry Southern (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

Top Rated Movies #58 | Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 7 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 D. 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, 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 all ...

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Plot Keywords:

war room | u.s. president | bodily fluids | nuclear holocaust | nuclear weapons | 

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Taglines:

The Red-Hot suspense story that's rocking and shocking the world!

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Genres:

Comedy

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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:

Okaloosa County, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,751, 17 July 1994, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$9,440,272, 31 December 1994

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

As research, Stanley Kubrick read nearly 50 books about nuclear war.

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Goofs

The long scene with Mandrake and Ripper on the floor is shot from 3 camera angles. In each view Ripper is holding the machine-gun at different heights on the barrel. Notice the two air holes visible shifting to none.

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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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Alternate Versions

Three different screen aspect ratios have been used for video releases. The initial video releases up until the last VHS used a pan & scan transfer. Starting with the Criterion Collection laserdisc, as well as the later Columbia laserdisc, the film was presented "open matte" which meant that as much of the frame was captured as possible. Since many scenes were shot with mattes in-camera, the aspect ratio varied between 1.33:1 to roughly 1.66:1. This same version was used for the original and later Special Edition. In 2004, Columbia completed a new restoration of the film using an original fine-grain positive. This was utilized for a high definition transfer used for the 2-disc 40th Anniversary Edition DVD set. For the first time, this edition used 16x9 enhancement and presented the entire film at its theatrical exhibition aspect ratio of 1.66:1. While this obscures image previously seen on the variable ratio transfers, this preserves the intended "matted" wide-screen composition - very important for shots like Major Kong riding the bomb to the ground. In the variable ratio transfers, the rigging and projection screen edges are visible.

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Connections

Referenced in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies Impacted by Real-Life Events (2013)

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Soundtracks

We'll Meet Again
(1939) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Ross Parker and Hugh Charles
Performed by Vera Lynn and chorus at the end

User Reviews

The Ultimate Black Comedy

Few films are able to take a deadly serious issue and place it within the context of a broad comedy successfully. Dr. Strangelove does exactly that. Kubrick's masterpiece illustrates in brilliant fashion the idiocy of nuclear war and the idiots who are orchestrating it. What strikes one most however in this cinematic gem are the individual characterisations of Sellers, Scott, Hayden and Pickens. To refer to them as memorable roles is a gross understatement. With names such as President Merkin Muffley, General "Buck" Turgidson, General Jack D. Ripper and Major T.J. "King" Kong, you know that these characters will not be soon forgotten. Other features of the film such as the remarkably designed "war room" set, the hand-held camera techniques employed by Kubrick and the black and white cinematography of Gilbert Taylor only add to the power and impact of "Strangelove." Quite simply, the greatest American film by the greatest American director.