2012 Film Challenge #11: Dr. Strangelove

In the early 1960s, maverick director Stanley Kubrick became interested in nuclear warfare as the subject for his seventh film, specifically the notion of the threat of an atomic conflict arising not from political causes but rather by accident—that is, because of the uncertainty of the human factor in the equation. In preparation he read forty-six books on the subject, and on consulting with the head of the Institute for Strategic Studies was also recommended the novel Red Alert by Peter George. In that story, an unbalanced Air Force general subverts the normal chain of command and initiates an unprovoked nuclear strike against the Soviet Union; only he holds the codes that allow contact with the bombers, and his aim is to force the USA to launch an all-out strike rather than face nuclear reprisal.

Kubrick hired George to co-write a script based on his novel, but in the process of preparing for the film the director realized that the subject matter was so overwhelmingly grave that it threatened to become absurd. The mind could not grasp it; it was too terrible, too much like a sick joke. A sick joke...what if...?

Suddenly the project changed drastically. Alongside Peter George Kubrick hired the anarchic humorist Terry Southern, author of Candy and The Magic Christian, and for the roles of the U.S. president, the British assistant to the insane general, and the mysterious German scientist, he signed on the comic chameleon Peter Sellers. Thus was born the greatest black comedy ever made: Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Rounding out the cast were Sterling Hayden as General Jack D. Ripper, George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson, Slim Pickens as Major "King" Kong, Keenan Wynn as Colonel "Bat" Guano, and Tracy Reed as the winsome Miss Scott. 

However, one must be careful about calling Dr. Strangelove an all-time great comedy, as that label is likely to convey the wrong impression. The fact that the movie is famous and that it's a comedy might lead someone who'd never seen it to think that it was ninety minutes of non-stop buffoonery, and it's not quite that. In fact, if one walked in after the whimsical opening credits, such a person might not even realize that he or she was watching a comedy at all. Aside from a couple of mild, chuckle-worthy moments, the viewer isn't given any clue that something cockeyed is going on until about fifteen minutes into it, when we meet the loopy General Turgidson and his secretary. Soon we meet General Jack D. Ripper as well, and from there we experience an entirely appropriate sense of escalation; as the situation in the skies over Russia gradually spins out of control, so too does the movie become increasingly bizarre. This downward spiral engulfs the viewer, enfolding him into its craziness, until finally the insanity becomes complete and we are left only with...Dr. Strangelove.

Also belying the film's label—and what gives the film its power—is that the plot is actually dead serious; you could sketch it out in broad strokes and no one would ever imagine that the film being described was a comedy. The movie takes great pains to depict a plausible chain of events, and that in detail; it's crazy, but it's not funny. 


It's also important to mention that when people talk about Dr. Strangelove being a great comedy, what they mean is that it is a great movie that happens to be a comedy. Everything about Dr. Strangelove is pitch perfect and dazzling, from the acting to the sets to the editing to the cinematography. Most importantly, it is very, very funny. It is, in short, unforgettable, and it has marked our culture; even if you've never seen it, there's a good chance that some of the fallout from its radioactive sense of humor has worked its way into your bloodstream. 

How did it hold up? I was worried that I had seen the movie too many times and that it would have lost its punch, but no: I found myself laughing all over again, and sometimes shuddering. The subject matter is dated, thankfully, but, for better or worse, crazy never goes out of style.