"Mein fuhrer! I can walk!"

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2010)

Amidst the flurry of Stanley Kubrick tributes following his death in 1999, there was one dissenting voice - ex-'Private Eye' editor Richard Ingrams. In his 'Observer' column, he called the director 'overrated'. He then admitted to having seen none of his films.
If I had to recommend only one Kubrick picture it would be 1964's 'Dr.Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Bomb'. It started life as a straight thriller ( based on Peter George's novel 'Red Alert' ) but over time Kubrick came to view it as what he termed a 'nightmare comedy'. An American General ( Stirling Hayden ) has gone 'a little funny in the head' and ordered planes to attack the U.S.S.R. with nuclear bombs. What caused this upset? Said general is ( it is suggested ) suffering from premature ejaculation, for which he blames the Russians whom he thinks have been putting something in the water along with the fluoride. The general has instructed his men to open fire on anyone attempting to break into Burpleson Air Force Base. This includes the U.S. Army.
While American troops battle one another, in the White House the chiefs of staff work against the clock to find a solution. The President ( Peter Sellers ) even phones the Russian Premier. Another mad General - 'Buck' Turgidson ( George C.Scott ) - suggests the only way forward is to step up the attack, kill the enemy before he can hit back. The President rejects the idea.
Sound like side-splitting fun? That is where the film's genius lies. It takes the most terrifying subject matter imaginable - nuclear war - and makes it into one of the funniest movies of all time. It suggested that World War 3 need not necessarily start because of an act of calculated aggression by either side, but through human error. Peter Sellers is magnificent in three roles - President Merkin Muffley, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, and the Dr.Strangelove of the title, a crippled Teutonic genius whose artificial hand has a life of its own. The actor was allowed to improvise, and came up with wonderful ideas, such as the good doctor's hand trying to do a Nazi salute while he is advising the President.
George could not have been too upset at this bastardisation of his story, he collaborated on the script ( with Kubrick and Terry Southern ) and penned the novelisation. To emphasise the lunacy of the story, the characters have weird names like 'General Jack D.Ripper', 'Major King Kong', and 'Colonel 'Bat' Guano'.
Ken Adam, best noted for his work on the Bond films, designed the stunning War Room ( the story goes that when Ronald Reagan was taken to the Pentagon he asked to see the War Room, not knowing it only existed on film. He had one built ).
Originally the film was to have climaxed with a custard pie fight, but Kubrick deleted it - rightly so. The present ending is much more effective. The same year this opened, another movie with an almost identical plot - Sidney Lumet's 'Fail-Safe' ( starring Henry Fonda ) - appeared. The main difference was that it was not a comedy. Lumet begged Columbia to let his movie come out first, to give it a chance. They ignored his concerns. While 'Strangelove' was a big hit, 'Fail-Safe' flopped.
Many Sellers films are less than interesting, some are plainly mediocre, but a handful bear the imprint of genius. This is one of them. It was nominated for a number of Academy Awards, including Best Actor ( Sellers ) and Best Picture. In the final event, it won nothing. Hollywood, as ever, went for sentimentality over satire and rewarded 'My Fair Lady' ( starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn ) instead. There is no doubt in my mind which film deserved to win.
Funniest moment - as a brawl develops Turgidson and the Russian Ambassador ( the wonderful Peter Bull ), the President tries to intervene: "Gentlemen, you cannot fight in here! This is the War Room!".
Second funniest moment - Major King Kong ( Slim Pickens ) riding an atomic bomb as though it were a bucking bronco and whooping for joy as it drops on Russia. Like I said, the film made the unthinkable funny.