Greg Mitchell has written several books and hundreds of articles about The Bomb as well as two recent PBS films, “Atomic Cover-up” and “The Atomic Bowl.”
This year we celebrated the 62nd birthday of “Dr. Strangelove,” which debuted on January 29, 1964. The first preview screening had been set for Nov. 22, 1963, but....well, you know. The premiere was then pushed back a bit. Fortunately, Kubrick’s president, the balding Merkin Muffley (one of three roles for Peter Sellers), was more Ike than JFK.
As a callow youth, I saw “Strangelove” in the theater and it instantly became my all-time favorite movie, and retained that position for many years. I would also say that it probably had the most influence on my career, since I went on to serve as editor of Nuclear Times, spent a month in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, wrote about The Bomb for dozens of leading publications and then in three books.
I’m reminded about all this as I complete a new short film (with my son Andy Mitchell as my editor for the first time) about the subject of one of my books: How the Pentagon and Truman White House heavily revised the very first Hollywood movie on the atomic bombings in 1947, changing it from a warning about bulding bigger bombs for military purposes to pro-bomb propaganda. The film is now titled “Hollywood Bomb” but I have considered calling it: “Doctored Strange Love.”
Anyway, here are a few “Strangelove”-related highlights, including a couple of parodies.
Here’s the original trailer which was killed and not seen for decades.
A Lego version of one scene:
Homer Simpson rides The Bomb, a la Slim Pickens.
The “Mein Fuhrer, I can walk” climax:
Parody trailer for a fun Oliver Stone re-make titled “Fluoridation.”
Peter Sellers covers The Beatles “She Loves You” in his Dr. S voice. Genius at work. “Yah, yah, she loves you.”
Kubrick on making the film, the script, Terry Southern, directing…. ”I was very pleased with the film.”
Gen. Turgidson calls for all-out attack to catch Russkies “with their pants down.”
Gen. Ripper informs Mandrake about those “precious bodily fluids.”
On the famously deleted final scene, the pie fight in the War Room. Probably a good thing that it was cut.
And a 45-minute “the making of” film.
Finally, yes, Johnny Cash covered the movie’s final number, the Vera Lynn classic, “We’ll Meet Again.”
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