Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe - Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2007)

The obvious movie to compare this to is "Fail Safe" - made at about the same time and dealing with essentially the same scenario  an accidental nuclear bombing mission by American jets over the Soviet Union - that no one seems able to stop. The difference between the two, of course, is that while "Fail Safe" was deadly serious, "Dr. Strangelove" is a black comedy  and a wonderful one, beautifully developed all the way through by director Stanley Kubrick. In fact, the thing that made this so funny was how realistic everything seemed. As you watch the events transpire, you find yourself asking the question "why couldn't this happen" - and it's not easy to come up with an answer.
Sterling Hayden plays General Jack Ripper, commanding officer of a U.S. Air Force Base who goes insane, becomes convinced of a Communist conspiracy (after all, fluoride was introduced into drinking water in 1946  it must be a Communist conspiracy) and takes it upon himself to issue orders to his pilots to nuke Russia. Meanwhile, his second-in-command Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, a British officer on an exchange (played by Peter Sellers, who also plays the title character, as well as the U.S. President) realizes that Ripper is insane and tries to find a way out of the mess. Back in Washington, Gen. Turgidson (George C. Scott), who commands the Air Force, sort of sums up the whole mood of the movie when he reflects on why current policy won't allow any way to recall the bombers: "don't let one little slip up" - even when that "one little slip up" is the nuclear bombing of the Soviet Union! - "ruin the whole program!" There's a lot of good comedy here. I loved some of the conversations between the U.S. President and the Soviet leader ("Dimitri, turn the music down, I can't hear you"), thought the emergency rations given to the place crews (including prophylactics and nylons) were a scream and it was hilarious to watch as Mandrake is trying to get in touch with the President to explain what's been happening but can't get through because the only phone he can find is a pay phone and he doesn't have the right change. Interestingly, in addition to the comedy, there's a good build-up of suspense as well.
The title of the movie is interesting, because Strangelove (a German apparently brought into the service of the U.S. After World War II) actually only appears in 2 or 3 scenes, but Sellers manages an over the top performance with him when given the opportunity, replete with Nazi salutes and references to the President as "Mein Fuhrer!" I would rate this as one of Sellers' best performances. In fact there isn't much of anything to dislike here (although to be honest I found Slim Pickens a bit irritating as Major Kong, the pilot of the plane trying to bomb Russia.) Otherwise, this was great. 8/10