Things I love about Dr. Strangelove

[Recursion]

In no particular order:

1. Kubrick got the go-ahead only on the condition that Sellers would play four roles in the movie, including the bomber pilot.

2. After Sellers injured himself and couldn't do the bomber scenes anymore, Kubrick asked John Wayne, who declined, so they settled on Slim Pickens, but never told him (or the rest of the bomber crew, including a very young James Earl Jones) that the movie was a comedy (actors didn't see the whole script back then in general to keep printing costs down).

3. Most of George C. Scott's scenes were filmed without his knowing that the cameras were rolling; Kubrick had told him those were warm-up run-throughs.

4. In the war room scenes, Sellers is visible on both sides of the two-camera cuts.

5. Kubrick filmed the movie in varying aspect ratio

6. Despite filming in black and white, Kubrick insisted the set designer cover the War Room table in green baize so the actors would feel like they were playing poker with life on earth as the stakes.

7. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room!"

Anybody else?

[Sherman A1]

1. I always liked

the checklist of the survival kit by the bomber crew...

[Recursion]

2. One combination Ryushan phrasebook and holy bible

Five sticks lipstick. Five pair nylons.

Heck, a fellah could have a good weekend in Vegas with this stuff...

[trof]

5. Wasn't there one latex 'water bag' in there?

Or maybe that was the sergeant who briefed us for water survival training at Eglin AFB back in the day.

[dr.strangelove]

8. Actually, SLim originally said Dallas, but after Kennedy was shot, they pulled the Dallas reference

He said: "Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good time in Big D with all this stuff." They relooped it to say "weekend in Vegas" because it matched the lip read as close as they could. They did not want to reference Dallas so soon after the assassination.

JFK's assassination also impacted the famous cut pie-fight scene. In the scene, after President Muffley takes a pie in the face, General Turgidson said "Gentlemen. Our gallant young president has been struck down in his prime." In the first cut, at the end of the film while the bomber is striking Russia, the war room falls into a pie fight. You can see the food table in other scenes in the war room and some of the pies.

Its been said that Columbia Pictures pulled the scene over that line, but Kubrick later said he made the decision to cut the scene himself and it had nothing to do with JFK but was because it was not consistent with the tone of the rest of the film.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

3. "Precious bodily fluids"

Guess this is my favorite movie ever.

[dawg]

9. That's my favorite part of the movie.

How it taught me to conserve my precious bodily fluids.

[Aristus]

4. "You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola company for this!"

[Tom Kitten]

6. Major Kong

I was 10 years old when I first saw this movie. Growing up in conservative Orange County the film certainly shattered my (at the time) world view. This scene clinched it. There are no heroes here.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. The good Doctor himself almost salivating...

Over the fact that particularly fertile women should be chosen to inhabit the underground mass shelter.

Sellers was an unmitigated genius.

[amandabeech]

12. We have a mineshaft gap! n/t

[cyberswede]

10. The phone conversation with the president

is priceless and utterly hilarious.

"...he went and did a silly thing...well, he ordered his planes to attack your country..."

"...of course I like to say hello!"

"Of course it's a friendly call. Listen, if it wasn't friendly, you probably wouldn't have even got it..."

[Recursion]

11. "Yes, as you say, we're both fine. Now, Dmitri...." (nt)

[Joe Shlabotnik]

13. Kubrick vs. Scott epic chess matches.

Similarly George C. Scott became fanatical about playing ping pong during the filming of Patton.

[Brother Buzz]

14. Sterling Hayden's righteous anti-fluoridation anti-commie rant

[edbermac]

15. Everything...but I would have loved to see the pie fight.

Sadly the footage is gone. Lots of still pics here; it looked absolutely insane.

http://www.bakiniz.com/stanley-kubrick-dr-strangelove-ve-kayip-pasta-savasi/

[lame54]

16. the peter sellers docudrama...

Portrays sellers inability to find the 4th character
so he fakes the injury to get out of doing it

[malthaussen]

17. Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!

This has particular meaning for me since my stroke...

-- Mal