"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964)

                                  

                         

“Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water? … Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face… A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual.  Certainly, without any choice.”  --General Jack D. Ripper, explaining why he ordered a nuclear attack on Russia

A psychotic General fixated on a conspiracy theory; a drunken Russian President; bumbling military personnel; and a sinister ex-Nazi; all bring about the nuclear destruction of the world, in director Stanley Kubrick’s dark comedy, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”  

Distinguished by the sensational performances of George C. Scott and, in three roles, Peter Sellers, “Dr. Strangelove” was an instant classic, and a dangerous satire.  Considered outrageously funny and cutting-edge in its original 1964 release, the movie has additional layers of timeliness today.  It remains a must-see. 

Kubrick was a genius on film.  He left behind a legacy of exquisitely crafted, brilliantly conceived masterpieces, rich in ideas and imagery.  With intelligence and wit, they examine universal themes, and keep  viewers spellbound with audacious compositions and boldly original design.  His films are timeless; they dazzle the eye and excite the mind today as much as ever. 

Although Kubrick was not known primarily as a director of comedy, many of his films, like “A Clockwork Orange”, “Lolita” and even “2001: A Space Odyssey”, sizzle with moments of wicked humor.

“Dr. Strangelove”, Kubrick’s early tour de force, is his most overt comedy.  Lampooning military absurdity and the deadly folly of the Cold War, this scathing film provides plenty of laughs.  But something strange happened in the fifty-plus years since the film was released. 

American politics has become so irrational and over-the-top, that the buffoonery on display in "Dr. Strangelove" doesn't seem so strange by comparison. It now feels almost commonplace, and frighteningly plausible, in spite of a disclaimer that tells us that the events depicted could never occur.   The movie is still funny, but now I wince as much as I laugh, and the laughter sticks in my throat.

“Dr. Strangelove” is superbly designed, using a few memorable and iconic sets.  The high-contrast black and white photography  employs harsh lighting, giving the film a cold and repellant look…in other words, it has an institutional military feel that is hard to warm up to.  The humor is incongruous in this heightened, documentary-like realism, which makes the film progressively funnier and scarier as it goes along.  

Many of Kubrick’s trademark techniques were introduced here: disorienting wide-angle shots, static takes on motionless actors, eerie up-gazes, ironic use of music, and filming into light sources.. The movie requires the energy of full attention, and rewards it with an authentically detailed, fast-paced narrative of visionary dimensions.

The screenplay, by Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George (on whose novel. “Red Alert”, the movie is based), mixes wit, slapstick, and phallic inuendo. 

I would argue that the film’s main thesis, the target of its most venomous humor, states that military hubris, bluster, and one-upmanship are little more than expressions of male sexual insecurity. And this male sexual panic is destroying the world. The movie is crammed with examples: 

-The opening sequence follows two military planes re-fueling in mid-air, looking humorously like a copulation, scored to “Try a Little Tenderness”.  

-The names of the characters are wicked double-entendres (Turgidson; Merkin Muffley; Jack D. Ripper; Premiere Kissov; Strangelove). 

-Replenishing the population in a nuclear wasteland involves the creation of vast, underground breeding cities, in which ten women per each man are allowed to survive, based on their stimulating sexual characteristics.  

-The pilots’ survival kits contain nylon stockings and prophylactics.   

-Colonel Kong, commander of the wayward bomber plane that cannot be stopped, destroys the world by riding a nuclear bomb to its target, like a cowboy with a gigantic member between his legs.

Finally, the crux of the film, the driving force behind the ludicrous farce that unfolds, is General Ripper’s conspiracy theory.  He triggers the deadly chain of events because he thinks that fluoridation of water is a Communist plot to sap his precious bodily fluids.

Why?  He firmly believes that ingesting fluoride causes him to fail in the act of lovemaking. 

His conviction, that a deadly foreign substance being introduced into his body against his will is a conspiracy, is similar to arguments by today's anti-vaccination proponents.  A growing number of them refuse to be innoculated against any disease, even by a possible lifesaving vaccine against the Coronavirus.

Just like Ripper, the anti-vaccine people perpetuate unfounded conspiracy theories.  Like Ripper, they would rather fight against the idea of a vaccine, or the injection of an “evil” substance, and risk destroying humanity, rather than making themselves immune, safeguarding themselves and others.  They cannot acknowledge the history of other deadly diseases, which no longer threaten our existence because of available vaccines.

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A personal note, about “Dr. Strangelove”, and a bittersweet effect of the pandemic:

“Dr. Strangelove” was the first movie shown by the new Phx Film Collective in 2018. The Phx Film Collective was started by a small group of dedicated movie fanatics who wanted to offer public screenings of vintage classic and modern independent films in the Central Phoenix area, which was underserved by movie theaters.  

I learned of the Collective through a newsletter distributed by Changing Hands Bookstore, who offered their event space to  for the screenings.  I took advantage of the call for volunteers; I felt that any group that would show a movie like “Dr. Strangelove” was a group that I wanted to be a part of.

“Dr. Strangelove”, which hadn’t been shown theatrically in many years, was a huge success.  The Collective had tapped into a need, and continued to meet that need through subsequent screenings of diverse movies at unique venues.

Being a part of the group was a happy time for me.  I realized my dream of introducing audiences to movies that meant a lot to me, especially from my favorite film era, the 1960s and 70s.  I also supported a wide range of tastes from others in the group whose passion for their films and eras rivaled my own.

Our last screening was “Harold and Maude” on Valentine’s Day, 2020.  It was our greatest success.  The following show, Bong Joon-Ho’s “The Host”, was canceled, ironically, due to the coronavirus outbreak. The group never met again after that.

Recently, our founders, Chris and Carrie, informed me that they would be moving to Canada by the end of the year.  Chris kindly offered me the chance to carry on the Film Collective; but I knew that I could not fill his shoes. It would not be the same without his passionate vision.

I feel sad about the dissolving of our movie group, which was just finding its legs before it was stopped in its tracks.  I will miss the meetings, the film-selection discussions, the technology logistics, the choosing of venues, and the great fellowship of some wonderful movie-lovers.  

Running through my head, appropriately, is the melancholy lyric that ended "Dr. Strangelove”, the first film shown by the Phx Film Collective:

 “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when / But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”