Mein Fuhrer.....I Can Walk!

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2005)

"Dr. Strangelove" had to have seemed strange indeed to 1964 audiences. This came out in the same year as colorful, old-fashioned Hollywood fare like "My Fair Lady" and "Mary Poppins." Yet "Strangelove" is far from old-fashioned or even colorful. Kubrick's film is stark and cold with a documentary-like air to it. It's also riotously funny. Peter Sellers is a film treasure. This film is a an orgy for Sellers fans, since he plays no less than three different characters, stretching his chameleon-like acting abilities to the limit. The funniest of his three characters is the dead-pan president of the United States, and the film's funniest scene involves him trying to gently break to the Russian premiere that we are about to launch a nuclear attack on his country. His portrayal of the title character is also inspired, and the image of Sellers in that wheelchair wrestling his black-gloved hand into submission with that crazy shock of hair and crazier glint in his eyes is unforgettable.
The film also sports a great supporting cast, most notably George C. Scott as Buck Turgison, who discreetly takes calls from his bikini-clad girlfriend during war room briefings, Sterling Hayden as General Jack D. Ripper, who wields his cigar like a dangerous weapon, and Slim Pickens, as the pilot of the plane that is about to end civilization as we know it.
My only complaint with the film is its somewhat sluggish editing, especially in the scenes showing the fleet of bombers on its way to their Russian targets. At times, the movie actually drags slightly, even though it's only 90 minutes long.
But this is a minor quibble about a film that has rightly earned a spot in the cultural conscience of America. It will never be irrelevant as long as the ability to wage nuclear war exists, and it doesn't look like that problem will be going away any time soon.