Stanley Kubrick is now regarded as one of the greatest directors of all time. He was known as a perfectionist and innovator when it came to his work with the camera. Dr. Strangelove is the very center point (film #7 of a 13-feature film career) of his filmography and quite a change of tone from the majority of his work. Kubrick had a sort of black humor to his movies, but Dr. Strangelove is an all-out comedy; a satire of Cold War paranoia and the concept of mutually assured destruction (MAD, for short). The story is taken from a book by Peter George called, Red Alert – a serious novel about the U.S. attempting a preemptive strike against the Soviet Union – but as Kubrick reworked the story for his script, he realized that the philosophies that made up such paranoia couldn’t be taken seriously. The film had to be a comedy. Add in the great Peter Sellers and the film couldn’t be anything but.

Air Force General Jack D. Ripper gives his executive officer, Captain Mandrake, the order to put their base on red alert, confiscate all radios, and send the closest fighter planes to the Soviet Union to prepare to bomb it. Mandrake realizes that this command did not come from the Pentagon, and when he confronts Ripper, Ripper locks them in his office and tells Mandrake of how the Soviets have been fluoridating the American water supply to pollute citizens’ precious bodily fluids. At the Pentagon, General Turgidson explains to President Muffley what is going on. Unable to recall the planes in time, Muffley reaches out to Soviet Premier, Dimitri Kissov, to warn him of what is coming. Muffley is then told that the Soviets built a doomsday machine as a nuclear deterrent, which, if it was made to go off, the fallout would leave the world uninhabitable for 93 years. Muffley’s scientific advisor, the German Dr. Strangelove, points out that for the machine to be effective as a deterrent, people would need to know about it. Meanwhile, Mandrake successfully calls off the air strike, except for one plane that was unable to receive new communications. Major “King” Kong goes to release his plane’s bomb, but there is an electrical issue. He fixes it and the bomb drops with him on it. He hollers and waves his cowboy hat as he descends. Back at the Pentagon, everyone argues about what to do, knowing the doomsday machine is going to go off. Dr. Strangelove, who has been in a wheelchair the entire time, gets out and gleefully revels in the miracle that has happened to him just as the doomsday machine goes off.

Kubrick is an important part of the success of this film, but the true gem here is Peter Sellers. I’ve mentioned him before for playing the original Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther series, but in Dr. Strangelove, he plays not one, not two, but three distinct roles as Mandrake, Muffley and the Nazi Dr. Strangelove. Each role is so vastly different, but still so hilarious in its own way. Mandrake just listening to Ripper explain what he thinks the Soviets are doing to their bodies is ridiculously funny. Muffley’s conversation with Dimitri is great. And of course, Dr. Strangelove’s malfunctioning hand is the star of the show. Whether reaction, dialogue, or physical comedy, Sellers is a natural and can make just about anything funny. Without a doubt, he is what makes Dr. Strangelove the acclaimed work it is today, and makes it worth a watch. Then a rewatch. Then a rewatch.

Bonus Review: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

It’s the night of the Stanleys! Stanley Kramer was also a famous director, and he was known for making socially-conscious dramas, such as The Defiant Ones, Judgment at Nuremberg, Inherit the Wind and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? He then made It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – a comedy of epic proportions – to prove to his critics that he could do it and do it well. The experiment paid off with several awards and a strong return at the box office. Originally a 202-minute epic, the film was cut down by United Artists to 163 minutes without Kramer’s permission. Regardless of how long it is, the film is filled to the brim with jokes in every scene. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was also a huge influence on future films with its simple, briefcase-chasing plot and movies that fill their cast with a big ensemble of famous faces for a box office draw.

Look, I’m not gonna sit here and explain the details of the plot for this one. They are simply too convoluted. But the what gets the movie going is this: a man runs his car off the highway and some other drivers stop to help him. However, he is dying and uses what time he has left to tell his helpers that he has $350,000 buried in a park under a “big W”. Then, as his soul departs this world, he literally kicks a bucket down the hill. The others attempt to find away to evenly split the money, but they can’t come to a consensus, so they all rush back to their cars and begin a mad-cap race to see who gets their first.

In order to create the ultimate comedy, Kramer pulled in several comedians with different style of comedy to act as his leads (except for Spencer Tracy, who receives top billing) and in cameo appearances. The comedians included are Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Edie Adams, Eddie Anderson, Jim Backus, Ben Blue, Joe E. Brown, Alan Carney, Peter Falk, Paul Weaver, Buster Keaton, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, Tom Kennedy, Jerry Lewis, Phil Arnold, Jack Benny and The Three Stooges. Like I said, it’s a full slate of big names in the comedy world. With a cast this huge and the long runtime (especially for a comedy), it’s proof to the talent within Stanley Kramer that It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is as good as it is. This movie is the very definition of “controlled chaos”.