Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. 1964 Columbia Pictures.
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, James Earl Jones, Keenan Wynn
Director: Stanley Kubrick
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One of the truly great films of all times, with Peter Sellers playing three roles, and some truly dark comedy from start to finish. The movie was based on a novel written by Peter George, Red Alert. Two movies were based on that book; this one, and the far more serious Fail-Safe, which is also an excellent movie. Sellers would've played a fourth role, the one of the pilot T.J. "King" Kong, but he was reluctant to do so at first, feeling that his workload was already too heavy, and fearing that he couldn't reproduce a Texas accent accurately. After Sellers suffered a sprained ankle, Slim Pickens was cast as Kong, since he would have absolutely no trouble mimicking a Texan dialect.

Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Hayden) is suffering from a mental illness, which leads him to draw up and order plans for the U.S. military to attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons, believing that the Communists are conspiring to "sap and impurify" the American public's "precious bodily fluids" with fluoridated water. Ripper came up with this bizarre idea during sexual intercourse, and believes himself to already have been affected. The armed B-52s of the 843rd Bomb Wing are ordered past their failsafe points, and into Soviet airspace. Ripper also notifies the personnel of Burpelson Air Force Base that the U.S. and Russia have entered a "shooting war". Knowing that a nuclear attack will require Presidential authority to be initiated, Ripper uses "Plan R", an emergency war plan enabling a senior officer to launch a retaliation strike against the Soviets only if the normal chain of command has been killed in a sneak attack.

A RAF exchange officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Sellers), who serves as Ripper's executive officer, notices that there's been no attack on America when he turns on a radio, and hears music instead of Civil Defense alerts. Ripper refuses to recall the bombers, so Mandrake declares that he will issue a recall on his own authority, which requires a three-letter code necessary (O-P-E), and Ripper refuses to tell him.

At the Pentagon's fictional "War Room", General Buck Turgidson (Scott), having been summoned to an emergency meeting from the romantic tryst he was having, briefs President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) about what's going on, and tries to convince the President to take advantage and take out the Soviet danger with a full-scale attack. Turgidson thinks that the U.S. possesses the upper hand, and a first strike would eliminate 90 percent of Soviet ICBMs, resulting in a U.S. victory with "acceptable" losses of "no more than 10 to 20 million, tops...depending on the breaks". Muffley instead admits a Soviet ambassador (Peter Bull) to the war room, and contacts the Soviet Premier, Dmitri Kissoff, on a hotline, insisting on giving the Soviets all the necessary information to shoot down the American planes before they can drop their bombs. Turgidson scuffles with the ambassador, but it's broken up by Muffley, who tells them "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"

The President also calls upon Dr. Strangelove (you guessed it, Sellers), a former Nazi and strategy expert. The wheelchair-bound Strangelove is kind of like a mad scientist suffering from alien hand syndrome, which occasionally sees his hand trying to strangle him, or give the Nazi salute. The doctor explains the principles behind the Doomsday Device.

U.S. Army troops sent by Muffley arrive at Burpelson to arrest Ripper. The General already warned his men that the enemy may attack disguised as American soldiers, so there's a firefight between two American squadrons. Ripper wins, but ends up committing suicide in his private bathroom before the survivors can get to him, and before Mandrake can get the three-letter code from him. Colonel "Bat" Guano (Wynn) shoots his way into Ripper's office, and arrests Mandrake, not recognizing he is part of the RAF, and suspecting he's leading a mutiny of "deviated preverts". Yes, preverts. Mandrake manages to convince Guano to let him call the President to obtain the three-letter code. Office phone connections were disrupted by the gun battle, so Mandrake needs to use a pay phone, which he doesn't have the right change for. Guano is talked into shooting up a Coca-Cola machine for the necessary money, but only after he warns Mandrake that he will eventually have to answer to the fine people at Coke.

The correct recall code is issued to the planes, and those that haven't already been shot down return to base, except for one, captained by Major T.J. "King" Kong (Pickens), whose flight to destiny with his crew has been shown several times through the movie. Kong notices that the bay doors won't open, so he goes down to open them himself, succeeding as his plane reaches his target. In a now famous scene, Kong rides the bomb down to its target, whoopin' and hollerin' the whole way down. The bomb goes off, triggering the Doomsday Device, and according to the Soviet Ambassador, life on Earth's surface will be extinct in ten months. Dr. Strangelove recommends that a group of about 200,000 be placed in a deep mine shaft, so the U.S. can survive and repopulate without being affected by fallout, recommending "ten females to each male". Turgidson rants that the Soviets probably are already working on a similar plan, one superior to the United States. We can't have a "mine shaft gap" people. An excited Strangelove suddenly stands up and walks ("Mein Fuhrer! I can valk!"), and the movie ends with a climatic pie fight with lots of laughter and nobody else gets hurt.

Well, that was the original ending. Regardless, highly, highly, highly recommended.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when...