Film Review: DR. STRANGELOVE… (1964)

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

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers (Screenplay): Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern and Peter George (also book ‘Red Alert’)
Running Time: 95 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Comedy/War/Thriller
USA Release Date: 29^th January 1964

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 14^th April 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is a film I remember watching many years ago. I recall that I wasn’t all that impressed with it then, but then again, I was probably a bit young to appreciate it. Now a tad older (& wiser) I felt I could do it a bit more justice and boy was I right! I have to say it’s one of the best satirical comedies I’ve seen in many a year and a film that will easily make it into my top 100! More of my thoughts after this very brief summary.

When an American General loses his marbles and orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, it’s up to a few men in a room in the Pentagon to sort it out. They are aided by the crazy scientist, Dr. Strangelove, who has some interesting ideas about the survival of the human race after a nuclear war. But I’m getting ahead of myself; the General in question, Jack Ripper, has an executive officer at the base, the British airman, Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, who spends most of the film trying to get the release codes out of the General. We also have the pleasure of meeting the crew of one of the B52 bombers, piloted by Maj. ‘King’ Kong. This crew don’t know their orders might be bogus and are determined to carry them out to the letter. Meanwhile, back in the pentagon, the President, Merkin Muffley, is trying all diplomatic routes in order to avoid a nuclear war! His Generals, particularly Gen. ‘Buck’ Turgidson, want to take the upper hand and attack the Soviets, but Muffley invites the Soviet Ambassador into the war room and this stifles the General. I won’t tell how it ends up or the Spoiler Police will be dropping me from a plane (again), but needless to say there are a few surprises to come.

Although the effects are not of the quality we expect today, a pretty good job was done considering the technology in the early 1960’s. The film was all very well shot, Kubrick had a great eye and I can see the early echoes of the latter scenes in ‘Full Metal Jacket’ in certain scenes here. Performance-wise, well nobody put a foot wrong, but I must give special praise to Peter Sellers who was superb in all three of his roles; Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and, of course, Dr. Strangelove. Also worthy of note; George C. Scott as Gen. ‘Buck’ Turgidson, Sterling Hayden as Brig. Gen. Jack Ripper, Keenan Wynn as Col. 'Bat' Guano, Slim Pickens as Maj. ‘King’ Kong, Peter Bull as Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky, James Earl Jones as Lt. Lothar Zogg and finally, Tracy Reed as Miss Scott.

Darkly satirical throughout, I really love the way this film never lets up and portrays the military as the bad guys. Surprisingly the politicians, the President in particular, comes off pretty well in the end. One slight niggle (for me) was that the film was shot in a 4:3 ratio and I’m afraid that did make it look a little dated. I can forgive the fact that it was made in black & white given where, and when, it was made. Over all though, a genuinely entertaining film that has several highs and one that have absolutely no problem in deeming… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

My Score: 9.4/10

IMDb Score: 8.6/10 (based on 196,848 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/

MetaScore: 96/100: (Based on 11 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 100/100 (based on 60 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 94/100 (based on 117,100 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dr_strangelove/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Narrator: For more than a year, ominous rumours had been privately circulating among high-level Western leaders that the Soviet Union had been at work on what was darkly hinted to be the ultimate weapon: a doomsday device. Intelligence sources traced the site of the top secret Russian project to the perpetually fog-shrouded wasteland below the Arctic peaks of the Zhokhov Islands. What they were building or why it should be located in such a remote and desolate place no one could say.

General "Buck" Turgidson: Mr. President, about, uh, 35 minutes ago, General Jack Ripper, the commanding general of, uh, Burpelson Air Force Base, issued an order to the 34 B-52's of his Wing, which were airborne at the time as part of a special exercise we were holding called Operation Drop-Kick. Now, it appears that the order called for the planes to, uh, attack their targets inside Russia. The, uh, planes are fully armed with nuclear weapons with an average load of, um, 40 megatons each. Now, the central display of Russia will indicate the position of the planes. The triangles are their primary targets; the squares are their secondary targets. The aircraft will begin penetrating Russian radar cover within, uh, 25 minutes.
President Merkin Muffley: General Turgidson, I find this very difficult to understand. I was under the impression that I was the only one in authority to order the use of nuclear weapons.
General "Buck" Turgidson: That's right, sir, you are the only person authorized to do so. And although I, uh, hate to judge before all the facts are in, it's beginning to look like, uh, General Ripper exceeded his authority.

Major T. J. "King" Kong: Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones. You sure you got today's codes?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Colonel... that Coca-Cola machine. I want you to shoot the lock off it. There may be some change in there.
Colonel "Bat" Guano: That's private property.
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Colonel! Can you possibly imagine what is going to happen to you, your frame, outlook, way of life, and everything, when they learn that you have obstructed a telephone call to the President of the United States? Can you imagine? Shoot it off! Shoot! With a gun! That's what the bullets are for, you twit!
Colonel "Bat" Guano: Okay. I'm gonna get your money for ya. But if you don't get the President of the United States on that phone, you know what's gonna happen to you?
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: What?
Colonel "Bat" Guano: You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.

[Strangelove's plan for post-nuclear war survival involves living underground with a 10:1 female-to-male ratio]
General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: THE LADYKILLERS (1955)

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Running time: 91 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Thriller
UK Release date: 8^th December 1955 (London)

Watched on Sky+ Friday 4^th November 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is one of those films that was always on TV on a rainy Sunday afternoon when I was a kid. The trouble is, as a kid, I wasn’t all that interested in Ealing Comedies. Boy was I wrong! This is the first time I can honestly say I sat down and watched this one from beginning to end and it’s excellent! A very gentle comedy with a bit of a dark edge to it. Very much of its day, but still very watchable nonetheless. More of my thoughts after this very brief summary.

Sweet little old lady, Mrs Wilberforce, has some rooms to let in her little house in London, near to King’s Cross railway station. They are taken on by a gentleman known as Professor Marcus. He, and a group of friends, form an amateur string quintet and, with Mrs Wilberforce’s permission, practice in his rooms. The members of this little gathering are; Claude (a.k.a. 'Major Courtney'), Louis (a.k.a. 'Mr. Harvey') , Harry (a.k.a. 'Mr. Robinson'), One-Round (a.k.a. 'Mr. Lawson') and of course the Professor himself. Little does Mrs Wilberforce know that it’s a front for a gang of thieves who are planning a robbery. What she also doesn’t know is that she is about to be, unwittingly, an accomplice to their dastardly plot. Furthermore, her life may be in danger! I could tell you more but the Spoiler Police are already after me for the ‘X-Files’ caper.

I really enjoyed this film, as I’ve already said, a gentle comedy that gets a shade darker towards the end. I think I enjoyed the performances as much as anything else; all of the cast were excellent. Alec Guinness was almost unrecognisable, and also brilliant, as Professor Marcus. Cecil Parker was great as Claude, as was Herbert Lom as Louis. Peter Sellers didn’t have an awful lot to do, but was very good as Harry and Danny Green did a decent job of playing One-Round. I must give the highest praise to Katie Johnson as Mrs Wilberforce, I thought she nearly stole the show! Honourable mentions also go to; Jack Warner as The Superintendant, Frankie Howerd as The Barrow Boy and Kenneth Connor as The Cab Driver (uncredited).

I was pleasantly surprised to find the film was made in colour. Very few British made films were, at the time, and so it must have had some serious backing to warrant such treatment. All the characters appear to be larger than life, apart from the old lady and this, I think, is what makes it work so well. I have heard horror stories about the Coen Brothers’ remake and I’m kind of loathed to see that version, but I know our paths will cross (eventually). But enough of that one, this was, for me, one of the very best of the Ealing Comedies and I deem it highly recommended.

My Score: 8.1/10.

IMDb Score: 7.9/10 (based on 12,185 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0048281/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
One-Round: [looking blankly at his cello] Are we supposed to make noises with these things? What kind o' noises?
Louis: Who is she?
Professor Marcus: Not "noises," One-Round, *music*!
Louis: I said what does she mean, you...
[Professor Marcus shushes him and turns on the record, dancing a bit to the music]

[At the police station]
Junk Man: And it's a brown horse, eleven years old, and answers to the name of Dennis.

[Harry and Marcus are distracting Mrs. Wilberforce while Louis deals with the Major on the roof]
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: It won't do any harm to tell you now that Major Courtney has gone to the police. They'll be here shortly.
[there is a loud crash from outside]
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: Oh! Whatever is that?
Harry: I expect something fell off the roof, mum.
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: The roof?
Harry: Probably a... chimney-pot.
Mrs. Louisa Wilberforce: A chimney-pot?
Professor Marcus: See who it is, Harry
[pushes Harry out the door]

LINKS:
Trailer: