Dr. Strangelove

[TIZWIN]

I have read that Kubrick didn't intend to make a farce originally. In the course of his research prior to the film, however, the ultimate insanity of nuclear war led him to the novel that inspired the screenplay--Red Alert, I believe it was called.

More trivia--Peter Sellers was supposed to play Slim Pickens' part--Major "King" Kong-- as well as the others he did play. He had already established himself as a multi-part actor in previous films such as "Lolita" (also a Kubrick film), "The Mouse That Roared," and "I'm All Right, Jack." The idea was to have him featured in each of the film's settings. Fortunately for Slim Pickens, Sellers injured his ankle and could not do the climbing on and around the bomb at the film's climax.

Personally, I'm glad ol' Slim got the part. I couldn't imagine the film otherwise.

"Funny thing is, they make such bloody good cameras."---one of many great lines.

 

[mwerner]

I actually saw this movie the first time on a Special Forces base in Bad Tolz Germany, back in 1965. Our company was taking the mountain training course, and we could hike in to the base (if we had the energy!) to visit the PX and watch movies.
I was kind of surprised that this was showing on a military base, but the Sneaky Forces had a kind of wierd mindset back then. (I imagine they still do...)
One of my all-time favorite films.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Could anyone have done a better Kissinger than his Strangelove?

Not Kissinger, I think: Werner von Braun.

 

[Centaur]

Not Kissinger, I think: Werner von Braun.

Very Close! From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_strangelove

"The title character, Dr. Strangelove, serves as President Muffley's scientific advisor in the War Room, presumably making use of prior expertise as a Nazi physicist: upon becoming an American citizen, he translated his German surname "Merkwürdigliebe" to the English equivalent. Twice in the film, he accidentally addresses the President as "Mein Führer."

The character is an amalgamation of RAND Corporation strategist Herman Kahn, Nazi SS officer-turned-NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and "father of the hydrogen bomb" Edward Teller. The character was also compared to U.S. Secretary of State and controversial Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger. However, it is unlikely that he served as a basis for Dr. Strangelove as, at the time the film was made, Kissinger was only a Harvard professor who wrote some books on nuclear war strategy, being relatively unknown to the public.[1] At one point, Strangelove refers to a study which he had commissioned from the BLAND Corporation (a pun on the RAND Corporation, a U.S. military think tank). In his interpretation of Dr. Strangelove, Sellers' accent was influenced by that of Austrian-American photographer Weegee (the pseudonym of Arthur Fellig), who was hired by Kubrick as a special effects consultant.

Strangelove's appearance echoes the movie villains of the Fritz Lang era in 1920s Germany, in which sinister characters were often portrayed as having some disability. Sellers improvised Dr. Strangelove's lapse into the Nazi salute, borrowing one of Kubrick's black gloves for the uncontrollable hand that makes the gesture. Kubrick perpetually wore the gloves on the film set in order to avoid being burned when handling hot lights, and Sellers found the gloves to be especially menacing."

Also, you'll love the info on 'ol Slim:

"Slim Pickens, an established character actor and veteran of many Western films, was quickly chosen to replace Sellers as Major Kong. Fellow actor James Earl Jones recalls, "He was Major Kong on and off the set—he didn't change a thing—his temperament, his language, his behavior." According to some sources, the British film crew thought he was a method actor, and his mannerisms were his way of "finding" his performance for the character, unaware that that was the way he really behaved.

Kubrick biographer John Baxter further explains in the documentary Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove:

“ As it turns out, Slim Pickens had never left the United States. He had to hurry and get his first passport. He arrived on the set, and somebody said, "Gosh, he's arrived in costume!," not realizing that that's how he always dressed… with the cowboy hat and the fringed jacket and the cowboy boots—and that he wasn't putting on the character—that's the way he talked. ”

Pickens, who had previously played only minor supporting and character roles, stated that his appearance as Maj. Kong greatly improved his career. He would later comment, "After Dr. Strangelove the roles, the dressing rooms and the checks all started getting bigger."

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The character is an amalgamation of RAND Corporation strategist Herman Kahn, Nazi SS officer-turned-NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and "father of the hydrogen bomb" Edward Teller.

Great. They made a nazi from 2 Jews and a German.

 

[FullerH]

Fro most of Nixon's first term, Kissinger was allowed to be interviewed only off the record as Nixon's PR flacks were only too aware of how much he sounded like Dr. Strangelove. He had to become a more familiar character to the American people through printed words before he could be seen and heard speaking.

 

[braddy]

In a scene from the 1963 movie Dr. Strangelove, the B-52 bomber captain played by actor Slim Pickens was going over the survival items with his crew in case they needed to bail out after a bombing run over Russia.

I remember some of the items mentioned included Hershy bars, some gold coins, some condoms, and nylon stockings! There was a comment made in the film along the lines of, "I could have a great week in Vegas with all of this!"

My question here, if anyone remembers, is: 1)what the full list consisted of, and, 2) if this list of items was really accurate in what a bomber crew would have been supplied with as a Bail Out Kit in those days.

The pictures of the 22 rifle that I posted, the best that I know, represent a part of one of the 1950s bombers survival kits.