Review of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012

After working together on Lolita (1962), Stanley Kubrick and Peter Sellers wanted to work together again, and Kubrick chanced upon Peter George's cold war thriller Red Alert, and together with Terry Southern, turned it into a delicious black comedy to suit Sellers' comic talents, it would also highlight what a good actor Sellers really was, and how versatile he was.

At the height of the Cold War, insane U.S. general Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) launches an air strike against the Soviets, and an aircraft piloted by Major T. J. Kong (Slim Pickens), receives the order, and flies into Soviet Russia armed with a nuclear bomb, Ripper's executive officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) tries to defuse the situation.

Meanwhile, at the Pentagon, President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) is briefed on the situation by General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott). Muffley wants to put a stop to the situation, while scientific adviser, Dr.

Strangelove (Sellers again) explains about the doomsday device. All the while, Kong is moving closer towards the target. It is well filmed, and it works brilliantly in black and white, giving it a start, noirish feel.

It also marked a sort of unofficial sci-fi trilogy for Kubrick, followed by 2001 and A Clockwork Orange. It's a shame he never returned to comedy, as he showed a good knack for it here, Sellers manages to make each of the 3 characters he played with convincing accuracy.