Claim: Stanley Kubrick was employed to do work on Dr. Strangelove.

Dr. Strangelove or : How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb , more commonly known as Dr. Strangelove , is a 1964 political satire black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States . The film was directed , produced , and co-written by Stanley Kubrick , stars Peter Sellers and George C. Scott , and features Sterling Hayden , Keenan Wynn , and Slim Pickens . Production took place in the United Kingdom . The film is loosely based on Peter George 's thriller novel Red Alert -LRB- 1958 -RRB- .   The story concerns an unhinged United States Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union . It follows the President of the United States , his advisers , the Joint Chiefs of Staff , and a Royal Air Force -LRB- RAF -RRB- officer as they try to recall the bombers to prevent a nuclear apocalypse . It separately follows the crew of one B-52 bomber as they try to deliver their payload .   Dr. Strangelove is considered one of cinema 's best comedies . In 1989 , the United States Library of Congress included it in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry . It was listed as number three on AFI 's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs list .