#60 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

In Summary

Stanley Kubrick turns his masterful hand to comedy in his Cold War satire, Dr Strangelove (no, I'm not going to write out the full title each time).

A farce that follows the chain reaction of events caused by a rogue general setting off the order for a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, Dr Strangelove lassoes governmental and military culture, with Peter Sellers taking centre stage playing the roles of the US President, the titular Dr Strangelove, and an RAF Officer.

The message of Dr Strangelove is that it is more likely to be incompetence than nefariousness that can engender a global catastrophe. It is a message that has perhaps lost its impact over time when it's become more believable that our leaders are incompetent, as well as the story emerging that in 1983, the Soviet Union almost unleashed its nuclear arsenal due to an error in their computer systems.

Dr Strangelove is an odd combination between this rather dry satire and louder, more bombastic attempts at humour. It is Peter Sellers various characters that provide the most laugh out loud moments, from the phone-call his president character makes with the Soviet leader, the fish-out-of-water RAF Officer on an American military base, and the schizophrenic former Nazi Dr Strangelove.

However, a lot of those attempts at laugh out loud moments fall rather flat. Whether it's down to Stanley Kubrick's notorious perfectionism, many of the attempts at humour feel static and artificial. Dr Strangelove might have been a funnier film without those direct attempts at humour.

Still, what you are getting with a Stanley Kubrick film are a series of memorable and striking images, Dr Strangelove is no different despite being seemingly less serious than the director's other work. The two iconic images from this film are from the war room and the general riding a nuclear bomb like a rodeo clown.

A Memorable Quote

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.

Things You May Not Know

• This film led to changes in US government procedures so that this could never have happened in real life.
• Over half of the film's budget was spent on Peter Sellers' salary. Stanley Kubrick later commented "I got three for the price of six."
• Stanley Kubrick initially intended for the film to end with a food fight in the war room, however, he ultimately decided that it would dampen the film's satire.

One of the Greatest of All Time?
While there are some strong elements to this film, they don't really combine with each other. In particular, the tone of the humour in Dr Strangelove is kind of all over the place, it doesn't feel like Kubrick quite settled on whether he wanted to make a laugh-out-loud comedy or a more subtle farce-satire.

This was a film that I felt I should like but has been something of a chore on the two occasions I've seen it. It doesn't help that the film's satire has lost its relevance over time, but it is not a film I feel there is much to be gained by returning to.