Short Take: Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove, directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, has a fair claim to being the finest satire in all of film. It also has a fair claim to being the finest work of satire ever produced by an American. The film begins when an Air Force general (Sterling Hayden) has a psychotic breakdown, and sends the bombers under his command to attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons. The efforts of the U. S. president (Peter Sellers) and his advisors to deal with the situation are frantic. Things are further complicated by the revelation that the Soviets have created a doomsday weapon that will end life on Earth if they are attacked. Kubrick pillories the mindset behind Cold War militarism and strategic concepts such as "mutually assured destruction." One is shown the logic of such thinking, and the efficiency of the operations, but the lunacy of it all is left unmistakable. Giving the apocalyptic absurdity its full due, Kubrick renders the material in the most extreme, grotesquely caricatural terms. The military and government leaders are portrayed as egomaniacal buffoons. It's fitting, as only the greatest of fools could implement such insane tactics. But as incisive as the film is, it is also uproariously funny. The absurdities are heightened with such wit that, regardless of the horror, one cannot help but laugh out loud. Most impressively, the film has not lost its relevance in the Cold War's aftermath. The core lampoon of tough-guy militarism has proved astonishingly enduring, as the culture never seems to stop producing real-life analogues to the film's characters. The cast is wonderful. Peter Sellers plays three roles--the nebbishy president, a British aide to the psychotic general, and the title character--and he makes all three distinct and hilarious. He's almost matched by George C. Scott, who plays the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This "sane" general is nearly as crazy as the one who launched the attack. But the funniest performance is by cowboy actor Slim Pickens, who plays the officer leading the bombing mission. The character's self-deprecating lines in such grave circumstances would be amusing enough, but the sound of them delivered in Pickens' laid-back Texas drawl has a side-splitting comic edge. The cast also includes Keenan Wynn, Peter Bull, and James Earl Jones. Terry Southern and Peter George collaborated with Kubrick on the screenplay, which takes its plot from George's novel Red Alert. Ken Adam provided the outstanding production design. His "War Room" set is deservedly one of the most famous (and imitated) in movies. The cinematography is credited to Gilbert Taylor.