Day #63 - Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

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This movie was definitely funny - and bizarre - and nothing like I expected, haha. I really think this movie might take multiple viewings to really appreciate the humor. I know I didn't pick up everything I was supposed to nor did I fully understand it. Before Geoffrey Rush portrayed him in a TV movie, I had never heard of Peter Sellers - is that sacrilege?! Sellers, often touted as one of the greatest comedians of all time, was known for playing multiple characters in the same movie and played three in Dr. Strangelove. George C. Scott, known for his later role in Patton, and Sterline Hayden also starred.

I turned to Chris when the movie was starting and said, ya know, I think this is my first Stanley Kubrick movie - to which he said, what about A Clockwork Orange? 2001 A Space Odyssey? Full Metal Jacket? OK - so it's actually the fourth Kubrick movie I've seen - oops! Dr. Strangelove is a political satire which pokes fun at the cold war and how people reacted to it. The movie opens with Sterling Hayden, an American General named Ripper, calling for all American bombers flying over Russia to strike their targets with nuclear weapons. Clearly seeing that Ripper has gone mad, his Executive Officer, Mandrake (Seller's first role) begs him for the code to call off the strike, which he refuses. Meanwhile, General Turgidson (Scott), hears of the strike and alerts the President (Seller's second role) and his staff - they react by calling in the Russian ambassador who tells him that if they strike Russia, Russia will release the doomsday machine which will destroy the world. The movie continues as the two sides try to work out the situation - and in the meantime, the bomber pilots go through a pretty hilarious series of checks to release the bomb, only to find out it is stuck and needs to be manually released. The BEST part of the movie is when Dr. Strangelove is introduced - back in the war room, I believe he is there as a strategist or something? He sits in a wheelchair and wears sunglasses and talks with a very strange accent - he tells everyone that basically once the doomsday machine is released, they can survive by drilling into the ground and taking a couple hundred thousand people down there to survive. Dr. Strangelove (who is Seller's third role) says there should be a 10 to 1 man to woman ratio and that the women should be selected based on their sexual desirability. I assume this is why all the men in the room decide to "stop worrying and love the bomb". Strangelove is hilarious though, his hand is out of his control and he keeps doing the Hitler salute and accidentally calling the President "mein Fuhrer".

As I said, I think this movie requires multiple viewings but I can see why it's AFI's 3rd Best Comedy - I just need a bit more time with it. I didn't laugh out loud much - only to George C. Scott a couple times and at the end with Strangeloe. That being said, I didn't laugh at ALL the first time I saw The Big Lebowski and now I'm hysterical the whole time!

Dr. Strangelove was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter Sellers) and Best Screenplay - unfortunately it did not win any.