DR. STRANGLOVE (Or How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb)
(MASTERPIECE)
It’s hard to imagine Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece of political comedy getting made in Hollywood today. A bold assault on the anti-Communist jingoism of the 60s, Dr Strangelove was, essentially, an endless succession of big dick jokes. Characters like General Turgidson, Major Kong and President Merkin Muffley obsessed over lack of control, withholding information, and the impending “mine shaft gap.” The images of airplanes coupling, bomb doors jamming and Coke machines erratically discharging their precious fluids would send the Christian Right of today into paroxysms of righteousness… if they were smart enough to get the metaphorical gags.

Adapted from Peter George’s novel, Red Alert, Kubrick, along with George and satirist Terry Southern, transformed a sober thriller into an outrageous black comedy about nuclear Armageddon. This was a particularly brash choice given the political tensions of the time. The failure of the Bay Of Pigs and the escalation of the nuclear arms race were the headlines of the day. Cold War paranoia rivaled the incendiary reactions to the 9-11 attacks. When Kennedy was assassinated in November of 1963, Dr. Strangelove’s release was pushed back to January of ‘64. Even then, Columbia Pictures was goaded into posting this disclaimer at the start of the film:

It is the stated position of the United States Air Force that their safeguards would prevent the occurrence of such events as are depicted in this film. Furthermore, it should be noted that none of the characters portrayed in this film are meant to represent any real persons living or dead.

The greatest injustice, however, was Strangelove’s loss at the Academy Awards. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Peter Sellers), and Best Director it lost all three to the cloyingly popular My Fair Lady.

Nevertheless, the film has been endlessly referenced and imitated, inspiring a slew of anti-war and anti-government satires. None have come close to its genius. Simply stated, there hasn’t been a movie (before or after) as comically audacious or technically brilliant. It delivers on every front, boasting a tightly plotted drama, perfectly paced thriller, incisively witty script, stunning cinematography and groundbreaking performances.

Sterling Hayden is perfect as the sexually and psychotically dysfunctional general, Jack D. Ripper. Convinced the Soviets are using fluoridation to drain the essence from our bodily fluids, he launches an unauthorized nuclear strike on Moscow and retreats to a military bunker with a small army to protect him.

Upon learning of this, neurotic President Muffley (Peter Sellers) gathers a hilarious rogues gallery of advisors –including extremist General Turgidson (George C. Scott) and ex-nazi kook, Dr Strangelove (again, Peter Sellers)— to help recall the planes and avert global holocaust. You see, the Soviets have built a Doomsday Machine that, if attacked, will blanket the Earth in radiation for 100 years.

The script expertly yo-yo’s between the bomber pilots’ determination to drop their payload, petty exchanges between the President and the drunken Russian Premier, and the thwarted attempts by British attaché Lionel Mandrake (yet again, Peter Sellers) to learn the recall codes from the increasingly deranged Ripper.

The writers skillfully use the story’s comedy and thriller elements to reinforce one another, constantly raising the dramatic stakes while giving the jokes an ever-sharper edge. It is a rare film that can simultaneously increase both its suspense and laughs.

Every performance in Dr. Strangelove is first-rate: from the wrongheaded patriotism of Slim Pickin’s cowboy-pilot (he didn’t know the film was a comedy) to George C. Scott’s wildly gung-ho playboy general. It’s Peter Sellers, however, that redefines the art of film acting. Playing three drastically different roles – Muffley, Strangelove and Mandrake – he inhabits his characters so completely it’s hard to believe they’re the same person. The President and Strangelove deliver some of the film’s most famous lines but it’s Seller’s portrayal of Mandrake that impresses most. His ability to underplay the well-mannered character’s confusion, fear and frustration results in some the film’s best moments.

Kubrick intended for Dr. Strangelove to end with a giant custard pie fight between the Russians and Americans in the War Room. Upon viewing the footage, however, he decided the slapstick ending undermined the film’s satirical nature. This was a fortuitous decision since the scene featured Muffley taking a pie to the face and Turgidson exclaiming, "Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has just been struck down in his prime!" So soon after the Kennedy assassination, the line might have provoked an ugly backlash.

When considering the history of American film you begin to understand that terms like watershed and groundbreaking were invented for films like Dr. Strangelove. With direction and dialogue far superior to what is released today, the film’s political sensibilities feel neither dated nor naive. Subversive and poignant is never falls victim to a particular agenda. Forty years after its initial release it finds particular relevance with regard to our current administration’s macho posturing. Kubrick and his writers seemed to understand that while the players and circumstance may change, the political need to compare penis size remains the same.