The Stanley Kubrick Website (unofficial website)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Kubrick's next project was Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), another satirical
black comedy. Because Kubrick came of age after World War II
and the beginning of the Cold War period, he, like many others,
was worried about the possibilities of nuclear war. He became
preoccupied with it in the late 1950s, fearing that New York,
where he lived, could be a likely target, and even considered
moving to Australia, particularly Sydney or Melbourne. He
began consulting with others about the possibility of making
the subject into a movie.
The novel Red Alert was recommended to Kubrick, and after
reading it he saw in it the makings of a good film story about
nuclear war. Kubrick then began working on a screenplay along
with his producer, James B. Harris, who had produced three of
his previous films. Another collaborator was Red Alert's author,
Peter George, who would subsequently also write the
novelization of the film, dedicating it to Kubrick.
Kubrick setting up the camera for a scene in Dr. Strangelove
During that writing period, Kubrick decided that turning the
otherwise frightening and serious story into a satire would be
the best way to make it into a film, although Harris felt
otherwise, and chose not to produce it. Kubrick told Harris,
"The only way this thing really works for me is as a satire. It's
the same point, but it's just a better way of making the point."
Harris recalls being worried that Kubrick had ruined his career,
but being pleased with the result.
According to LoBrutto and others, "Kubrick was taking a bold
and dangerous leap" in his decision to make Red Alert into a
comedy, as the topic of nuclear war as a film subject at that
time was "considered taboo" and "hardly socially acceptable".
Before writing the screenplay as a satire, Kubrick studied over
forty military and political research books, including
unclassified information on nuclear weapons and effects from
Charles B. Yulish of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. He
decided that a "serious treatment" of the subject would not be
believable, and that some of his most salient points would be
fodder for comedy. He then decided to try to "treat the story as
a nightmare comedy."
Kubrick found that the film would be impossible to make in the
U.S. for various technical and political reasons, forcing him to
move production to England. There, he developed what became
the "first important visual effects crew in the world". To help
him write the screenplay, Kubrick hired noted black comedy
and satirical writer Terry Southern. Together, they worked
closely to transform Red Alert into "an outrageous black
comedy" loaded with "outrageous dialogue". LoBrutto notes
that the final product is a "raucous satire" that merges
Kubrick's "devilishly dark sense of humor" from the New York
streets and Southern's "manic comedic
Quick facts
Directed by
Stanley Kubrick
Produced by Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick,
Terry Southern and Peter George
Based on Red Alert by Peter
George
Starring
Peter Sellers
George C. Scott
Sterling Hayden
Keenan Wynn
Slim Pickens
T
racy Reed
Music by
Laurie Johnson
Cinematography
Gilbert Taylor
Edited by
Anthony Harvey
Production company
Hawk Films
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
January 29, 1964
Running time
94 minutes[1]
Country
United Kingdom[2]
United States[2]