Ten Movies I’m Glad I Saw: Dr. Strangelove (#9)

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Oh, it’s a scorcher here today! I went to the semi-annual Hike, Bike, and Paddle event here, and all I did was sweat, swelter, and waddle. Resting comfortably in an air-conditioned restaurant now, I’ll labor you with the next movie on my list of classics that I finally got around to seeing, and I’m glad I did. #9: Dr. Strangelove (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) If you’ve been following this series you may have noticed a little disdain for Stanley Kubrick. I think John said he’s overrated. I’ve only seen three movies of his (Spartacus and the other two that’ve made the lists), which actually amounts to about a fourth of his output. I think Stanley Steemer could have directed this movie and it would have still been good. This is one of the best “dark comedies”/satires I’ve ever seen. It is stinking brilliant. With characters named things like Jack D. Ripper and Kissov you know you’re in for a ride wilder than Slim Pickens took on the bomb as it fell. Not all of the humor in the film is as blatant as those names (or the classic line, “Gentlemen! You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”). It’s dark in a lot of ways, and probably far more truthful than we know (the notion that Turgidson thinks “10 million, 20 million tops” is an “acceptable” casualty level). This movie is at #3 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years, 100 Laughs” list of all-time best comedies. I have to agree with that. Rarely has a movie made me laugh so hard while scaring me. And I cannot ignore the brilliance of Peter Sellers playing three roles in the film (the president, the title character, and an RAF officer). He was nominated for an Oscar for his roles, and the only reason I can think of that prevented him from winnin is they couldn’t figure out which character to award it for. Dr. Strangelove (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) Directed by Stanley Kubrick Released in 1964 This is the War Room!!