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

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

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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 first test screening was scheduled for November 22, 1963, the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The producers felt that the public would not be in a mood for a black comedy so soon after such a traumatic event, so the premier was moved back to late January 1964.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the opening credits, the standard disclaimer about events and characters being fictitious has the word misspelled as "ficticious".

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 X (1996)

Soundtrack:

Try a Little Tenderness

Kubrick takes a whack at comedy- and the cold war

Stanley Kubrick always likes to try something new with each movie he does, and this proves it. This is truly one of the grittiest, and best dark comedies I've ever seen with some crude moments and some odd ones (who'd think to have Slim Pickens riding a bomb on it's way down). It turns into a flat out masterpiece though with the spectacular acting by Peter Sellers (in three separate roles), George C. Scott (his facial expressions are a crack up every time), and a supporting cast of crazies in a government of loons, the most impressive of these being the incomparable Sterling Hayden in his best dramatic/funny role. It contains a resonance as well that sticks till today, as corruption and pig-headedness rules in all sorts of governments, but most of all in those with the most power. It's almost worth it just for the opening credits and end sequence with "we'll meet again".