Dr. Strangelove and Cold War Era Films

Today, we are looking at one of the greatest satirical films of all time, Dr. Strangelove. We will look at the director Stanley Kubrick, and how this film shaped Cold War movies. We also added some recommendations for films set in the Cold War period.

Sixty two years ago in 1964, audiences saw the release of two new movies about nuclear war. One was a drama and the other one was a dark comedy. The films are Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe. These two movies were released at the height of the Cold War in the mid sixties as well as the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both of the films were released by Columbia Pictures roughly eight months apart. The Guardian wrote in a 2024 article that “both films embody the famed Karl Marx quote “First as a Tragedy, Second as a Farce”. However, in the Columbia release schedule, the Farce came before the Drama. The two films showcase human error when dealing with weapons of mass destruction. The main message with Dr. Strangelove, humans are idiots.

Since its release on January 29th 1964, Dr. Strangelove resonates with many of the politics we still see today. A bonafide masterpiece, the film blends together intensity with humor as it navigates the absurdity of War Room politics with the stress of a nuclear war that many Americans were facing. When it was released, many were surprised at how closely the film’s dialogue matched with the attitude of government officials. The success of the movie is credited to the performances of the lead actor, Peter Sellers. Sellers plays a commander, the President of the US, and the title character of Dr. Strangelove.

The director of the film is Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick had an idea of doing a movie that focused on the aspects of Nuclear destruction. At first, he thought the movie was going to be a straight thriller but as time went on he realized a straight thriller could not encapsulate the attitudes of humans. One of his writing partners told him to read Red Alert by Peter George. Kubrick knew he wanted to adapt the story into a screenplay. He initially asked George to write with him but that relationship ended when Kubrick said he wanted Peter Sellers involved. The official screenplay was written by Kubrick and Terry Southern. Kubrick said of the writing process “Comedy came in the early weeks of writing…had to remove a bunch of parts because it made the film too funny”. To off shoot the comedy, the meat of the script centers around the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) tactic and mimicking actual defense systems such as the missile gap.

“Why do you think I’m calling you? Just to say hello?… *Of course* I like to speak to you!… *Of course* I like to say hello!… Not now, but anytime, Dmitri. I’m just calling up to tell you something terrible has happened… It’s a *friendly* call. Of course it’s a friendly call… Listen, if it wasn’t friendly… you probably wouldn’t have even got it..”