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

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:

When Slim Pickens was cast as Maj. Kong, he had never been outside the United States. Production was delayed while he got a passport.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: (Possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers) The big map on the Pentagon wall is badly out of date - Finland lost Karjala to the USSR during WWII.

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 Be My Oswald (2006)

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.