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

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

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

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 | War Room | Bomber | U.S. President | Doomsday

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

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
Paul Tamarin	...	Lt. Goldberg
Laurence Herder	...	Burpelson AFB Defense Team Member
Gordon Tanner	...	Gen. Faceman
John McCarthy	...	Burpelson AFB Defense Team Member

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Stanley Kubrick		(screenplay) &
Terry Southern		(screenplay) &
Peter George		(screenplay)
Peter George		(book "Red Alert")

Produced by
Stanley Kubrick	....	producer
Victor Lyndon	....	associate producer
Leon Minoff	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Laurie Johnson		(music)

Cinematography by
Gilbert Taylor		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Anthony Harvey

Production Design by
Ken Adam

Art Direction by
Peter Murton

Makeup Department
Stuart Freeborn	....	make-up (as Stewart Freeborn)
Barbara Ritchie	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Clifton Brandon	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eric Rattray	....	assistant director

Sound Department
John Aldred	....	dubbing mixer
Richard Bird	....	recordist
John Cox	....	sound supervisor
Leslie Hodgson	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Wally Veevers	....	special effects
Alan Bryce	....	special effects (uncredited)
Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig	....	special effects advisor (uncredited)
Brian Gamby	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
Mike Shaw	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Vic Margutti	....	travelling matte
Jim Body	....	visual effects camera operator (uncredited)
Bob Cuff	....	matte painter (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bernard Ford	....	camera assistant
Kelvin Pike	....	camera operator
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bridget Sellers	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Geoffrey Fry	....	assembly editor
Ray Lovejoy	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Pamela Carlton	....	continuity
John Crewdson	....	aviation advisor (as Capt. John Crewdson)
Pablo Ferro	....	main title design: Ferro, Mohammed & Schwartz, Inc.
Jean Bernard	....	pilot: outside bomber views (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)
• Hawk Films

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1964) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1964) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1964) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1964) (Finland) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1968) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Criterion Collection, The (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar (1997) (USA) (VHS) (widescreen)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia Film (1964) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Warner Distributors (1974) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (2006) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures International (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (2001) (Sweden) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (UK) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Italia (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• Egmont Entertainment (1999) (2001) (Finland) (DVD) (1-disc editions)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1990) (1996) (Finland) (TV)
• Nordisk Film (1999) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2001) (Sweden) (DVD)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2005) (Finland) (DVD) (2-disc edition)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Sweden) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2009) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• British Oxygen  the producers gratefully acknowledge the assistance of
• Ferro, Mohammed & Schwartz  main title by
• Institut Geographique National  location filming (uncredited)
• Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company  the producers gratefully acknowledge the assistance of (as Marconi's Wireless Telegraph)
• Post Logic Studios  digital film mastering (uncredited)
• Solartron Electronics  the producers gratefully acknowledge the assistance of
• Telephone  the producers gratefully acknowledge the assistance of (as Telephone Manufacturing)

Also Known As:

"Dr. Strangelove" - Australia (short title), UK (short title), USA (short title)
"Docteur Folamour" - Canada (French title), France
"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)
"дНЙРНП яРПЕИМДФКЮБ ХКХ ЙЮЙ Ъ МЮСВХКЯЪ МЕ АНЪРЭЯЪ Х ОНКЧАХК ЮРНЛМСЧ АНЛАС" - Soviet Union (Russian title)
"¿Teléfono rojo?, volamos hacia Moscú" - Spain
"Doctor Insólito" - Peru (imdb display title)
"Doctor Insólito, o Como aprendí a no preocuparme y amar la bomba" - Uruguay
"Doctor Strangelove" - Spain (Catalan title)
"Doktor Strejndzlav ili: Kako sam naucio da prestanem da brinem i zavoleo bombu" - Serbia
"Doutor Estranhoamor" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Dr Strangelove, czyli jak przestalem sie martwic i pokochalem bombe" - Poland
"Dr. Divnoláska aneb Jak jsem se naucil nedelat si starosti a mít rád bombu" - Czech Republic
"Dr. Fantástico" - Brazil
"Dr. Folamour" - France
"Dr. Insólito" - Mexico (video title)
"Dr. Insólito o: Como aprendí a dejar de preocuparme y amar la bomba" - Argentina
"Dr. Seltsam oder Gebrauchsanweisung für Anfänger in der sorgenfreien Liebe zu Atomwaffen" - Austria
"Dr. Seltsam, oder wie ich lernte, die Bombe zu lieben" - West Germany
"Dr. Strangelove" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Dr. Strangelove - eller Hvordan jeg lærte at glemme mine bekymringer og elske bomben" - Denmark (imdb display title)
"Dr. Strangelove eller: Hur jag slutade ängslas och lärde mig älska bomben" - Sweden (imdb display title)
"Dr. Strangelove, avagy rájöttem, hogy nem kell félni a bombától, meg is lehet szeretni" - Hungary
"Dr. Strangelove, eller: Hur jag slutade ängslas och lärde mig älska bomben" - Finland (Swedish title) (imdb display title)
"Garip doktor" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Hakase no ijô na aijô: Matawa watashi wa ikani shite shinpai suru no wo yamete suibaku wo aisuru you ni natta ka" - Japan (imdb display title)
"Il dottor Stranamore, ovvero come imparai a non preoccuparmi e ad amare la bomba" - Italy
"S.O.S Πεντάγωνο Καλεί Μόσχα" - Greece
"S.O.S. Pentagono kalei Mosha" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"SOS - Pentagono kalei Mosha" - Greece (reissue title)
"Tohtori Outolempi eli: Kuinka lakkasin olemasta huolissani ja opin rakastamaan pommia" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Tri Outolempi" - Finland (short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some violent content, sexual humor and mild language (re-rating) (2004)

Runtime:

95 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 | Finland:K-12 (1998) | USA:TV-PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Québec) | Finland:K-16 (1964) | 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:

Based on the novel "Red Alert" by Peter George, and originally conceived as a tense thriller about the possibility of accidental nuclear war. Stanley Kubrick was working on the script when he realized that many scenes he had written were actually quite funny. He then brought in Terry Southern to turn the story into a satire. Among the changes were the addition of the title character and the renaming of other characters using satirical names such as Turgidson, Kissoff, Guano, DeSadesky, and Merkin Muffley.

Goofs:

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

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:

Featured in Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and Dr. Strangelove (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Try a Little Tenderness

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.