ALL SCI-FI

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 5:40 pm Post subject: Dr. Strangelove (1964)

From Producer-director-writer Stanley Kubrick comes this popular comedy that's sometimes hard to laugh at because it hits too close to home. No effective plot synopsis can be written for such a lunatic yarn, but here are a few highlights.

SAC General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) goes bananas and sends a group of B-52's to bomb Russia, blaming the Commies for a variety of America's problems (including fluoridated water). If the bombs are dropped, the Russians will retaliate, so President Peter Sellers calls a meeting of his advisory, including ex-Nazi Dr. Strangelove (also played by Peter Sellers), who must grab his right hand whenever it habitually flies up to give a Nazi salute.

The Russians succeed in stopping all the planes except the one piloted by a blustery Texan, Major "King" Kong (Slim Pickens), who dons his ten-gallon hat and literally rides his A-bomb down to Moscow.

President Sellers' is shocked by the apparent madness of his own military advisers: they blithely discuss "acceptable losses" in the millions while they debate the male-female ratio in the top-brass fallout shelter.

The closest thing to a sane person in the whole story is a British officer named Captain Mandrake (also played by Peter Sellers!). Captain Mandrake watches in wide-eyed amazement as Colonel "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) shoots holes in a Coke machine because it won't give him a soft drink.

The cast also includes George C. Scott, Peter Bull, and James Earle Jones. Great set design by Ken Adam.

Dr. Strangelove seems to be Stanley Kubrick's way of telling mankind to grow up. 2001: A Space Odyssey is, in a sense, the second half of the statement begun by Dr. Strangelove — as if Kubrick is saying, "This is how were are now (Strangelove), and this is how we should be (2001)."
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

scotpens · Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 7:59 am Post subject: Re: Dr. Strangelove (1963 Engand)

Bud Brewster · Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 10:06 am Post subject:

Thanks, Scotspen! I've corrected Mr. Adam's name. I left the other error about the Coke machine in the review because if I change it then your reply would look like a correction for a mistake I didn't make! Shocked

I haven't seen the movie in years, and I wrote the review based on reference books, so I must have misread something, or one of the sources I used made a mistake.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

ralfy · Mission Specialist Joined: 23 Sep 2014 Posts: 473

"Ken Adam, Who Dreamed Up the Lairs of Movie Villains, Dies at 95"

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/12/movies/ken-adam-who-dreamed-up-the-lairs-of-movie-villains-dies-at-95.html

Robert (Butch) Day · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:15 am Post subject:

Sir Sean Connery and Sir Ken Adam on the lab set of Dr. No (1962):

Some of his fantastic designs include the lab of Dr. Julius No (from sketch to water color to built set):

You Only Live Twice (1967), Blofeld's lair:

Volcano launch complex concept painting:

and Drax's space station:

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Common Sense ISN'T Common

Custer · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 8:17 am Post subject:

I may be wrong, but that looks like Ian Fleming with Sean Connery in that photograph, rather than Ken Adam...

Here's Ken Adam on the set of "You Only Live Twice," apparently:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:58 am Post subject:

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Butch, that's a beautiful gallery of pictures from the Bond films. It really demonstrates just how talented Ken Adams was and how his futurist designs have thrilled science fiction buffs for decades. Thanks for posting them. Very Happy

P.S. Custer is right. The man with Sean is Ian Flemming, according to the caption under the same picture at the site below.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/birthday-bond-20120810-23yx0.html
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

orzel-w · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 1865

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 3:51 pm Post subject:

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Because my initial post said —

Robert (Butch) Day · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 3:56 pm Post subject:

The pictures were taken from an issue of Architectural Digest. It labels the person as Ken Adam.
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

orzel-w · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 1865

[size=204]Okay. I just needed to go back and re-read the whole thread from a year ago to make the connection. Okay.[/size]
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...or not...

WayneO
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Rocky Jones · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 5:52 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry to hear about Ken Adam. His ingenuity gave movies like Strangelove and the Bond films that big screen better-than-reality feel that movies so needed in the '60s to pull audiences away from their TV sets.

I'm not surprised that AD got the name wrong, but Butch? Connery and Fleming are two of the most identifiable figures of mid-century culture for me. I've only seen Adam's pic a couple of times, though. As I recall there's a book out on his work I've always meant to get around to.

Rick · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:08 pm Post subject:

I know it's impossible to ever name THE best or THE worst of anything. But when somebody presses me to name the best film I've ever seen, I always say -- after first explaining that it's impossible to really give such an answer -- that DR. STRANGELOVE is the greatest movie I've ever seen. I waver from time to time...CITIZEN KANE? LA GRANDE ILLUSION? THE SEARCHERS?...BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN?... I always come back to this virtually flawless, frighteningly hilarious, masterpiece.

I read years ago, that Steven Spielberg kept a copy (a tape, I assumed) of DR. STRANGELOVE on his bedside table. Whenever he felt muddled about just what a great movie was supposed to be, he'd pop Kubrick's film into the machine. And then he'd know.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

Krel · Guest

Back in the 80s a group of us went see DSL at a revival theater. After the movie was over another group crossly informed us that our laughing had ruined the movie for them! Shocked

Apparently, they were under the impression that the movie wasn't a comedy. Confused

They didn't appreciate me asking them that.

David.

Brent Gair · Mission Specialist Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 466

The other day, I was thinking that Dr. Strangelove is history's greatest movie for one-liners ("No fighting in the War Room..." etc.).

But there is one little throw-away line that is my favorite. As a pilot myself (many years ago), I still get the biggest kick from hearing Maj. Kong saying, "How many times have I told you guys I don't want no horsin' around on the airplane".