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

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) &
Terry Southern (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 January 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

the hot-line suspense comedy

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

General | Bomber | U.S. President | Doomsday | Doomsday Machine

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	Group Captain Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove
George C. Scott	...	General 'Buck' Turgidson
Sterling Hayden	...	Brigadier General Jack Ripper
Keenan Wynn	...	Colonel 'Bat' Guano
Slim Pickens	...	Major 'King' Kong
Peter Bull	...	Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky
James Earl Jones	...	Lieutenant Lothar Zogg
Tracy Reed	...	Miss Scott
Jack Creley	...	Mr. Staines
Frank Berry	...	Lieutenant Dietrich
Robert O'Neil	...	Admiral Randolph
Glenn Beck	...	Lieutenant Kivel (as Glen Beck)
Roy Stephens	...	Frank
Shane Rimmer	...	Captain 'Ace' Owens
Hal Galili	...	Burpelson AFB Defense Team Member

Also Known As:

A Delicate Balance of Terror (USA) (working title)
Dr. Strangelove (USA) (short title)
Edge of Doom (USA) (working title)
Docteur Folamour (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Docteur Folamour, ou: Comment j'ai appris à ne plus m'en faire et à aimer la bombe (Belgium: French title) (dubbed version) (France) (dubbed version) [fr]
дНЙРНП яРПЕИМДФКЮБ ХКХ ЙЮЙ Ъ МЮСВХКЯЪ МЕ АНЪРЭЯЪ Х ОНКЧАХК ЮРНЛМСЧ АНЛАС (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
¿Teléfono rojo?, volamos hacia Moscú (Spain) [es]
Doctor Insólito, o Como aprendí a no preocuparme y amar la bomba (Uruguay) [es]
Doctor Strangelove (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Doktor Strejndzlav ili: Kako sam naucio da prestanem da brinem i zavoleo bombu (Serbia) [sr]
Dr Strangelove, czyli jak przestalem sie martwic i pokochalem bombe (Poland) [pl]
Dr. Divnoláska aneb Jak jsem se naucil nedelat si starosti a mít rád bombu (Czech Republic) [cs]
Dr. Estranho Amor (Portugal) [pt]
Dr. Fantástico (Brazil) [pt]
Dr. Folamour (France) [fr]
Dr. Insólito (Mexico) (video title) [es]
Dr. Insólito o: Como aprendí a dejar de preocuparme y amar la bomba (Argentina) [es]
Dr. Seltsam oder Gebrauchsanweisung für Anfänger in der sorgenfreien Liebe zu Atomwaffen (Austria) [de]
Dr. Seltsam, oder wie ich lernte, die Bombe zu lieben (West Germany) [de]
Dr. Strangelove eller: Hur jag lärde mig sluta ängslas och älska bomben (Sweden) [sv]
Dr. Strangelove eller: Hur jag slutade ängslas och lärde mig älska bomben (Sweden) [sv]
Dr. Strangelove eller: Hvordan jeg lærte at holde op med at bekymre mig og elske bomben (Denmark) [da]
Dr. Strangelove, avagy rájöttem, hogy nem kell félni a bombától, meg is lehet szeretni (Hungary) [hu]
Garip doktor (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Il dottor Stranamore, ovvero come imparai a non preoccuparmi e ad amare la bomba (Italy) [it]
S.O.S. Pentagono kalei Mosha (Greece) [el]
SOS - Pentagono kalei Mosha (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Tri Outolempi (Finland) (short title) [fi]
Tri Outolempi, eli: Kuinka lakkasin olemasta huolissani ja opin rakastamaan pommia (Finland) (complete title) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some violent content, sexual humor and mild language. (2005 re-rating)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Spain:18 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:10 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Québec) | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:Unrated | Ireland:PG | Japan:Unrated | Netherlands:AL (video rating) | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (Certificate No. 20469) (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG (re-rating) (2004) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Arctic

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The end sequence, in which Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" is played over several shots of nuclear explosions, was suggested by Peter Sellers' fellow ex-Goon, Spike Milligan.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gen. Ripper and Capt. Mandrake are using the belt-fed machine gun, in one shot Mandrake is holding a chair over his head for protection, but when it cuts and the camera is behind them and Ripper crawls away from the window, Mandrake isn't holding the chair, and the closest chair is 10 feet away from him.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Five Dollar Fine (1997)

Soundtrack:

Try a Little Tenderness

Laughing at Fear

What makes this film so powerful is the message that it made at the time of its release. This film came out at a height of paranoia of the nuclear age and the Cold War, right around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This film depicts a horrible, tragic incident in which a breach in the government and a few diplomatic mistakes result in nuclear holocaust. So, why didn't this film inspire panic? Because of the brilliant way in which Kubrick presents it... as a satire. The scariest thing about this film in retrospect is not how it depicts the impending doom of the Cold War, but how it makes you laugh at it. By presenting it with humor, it conveys just how much of a farce the nuclear arms race was in real life. And I don't think that any other film has captured the absurdity of war nearly as well as this one has. And I am not likely to believe that one ever will. In my opinion, Kubrick has never made a better film since. And kudos to George C. Scott for his astounding performance, as well as Peter Sellers for the most versatile acting I've seen from an actor in one film, and to Sterling Hayden, for performing the most serious, yet the most hilarious role in film with perfect accuracy. Beware of fluoridation!