During his career Stanley Kubrick became renowned for undertaking lengthy and exhaustive research prior to the production of all his films. In the lead-up to what would eventually become
Dr. Strangelove (1964), Kubrick read voraciously and amassed a substantial library of works on the nuclear age. With rare access to unpublished materials, this volume assesses Dr. Strangelove’s narrative accuracy, consulting recently declassified Cold War nuclear-policy documents alongside interviews with Kubrick’s collaborators. It focuses on the myths surrounding the film, such as the origins and transformation of the ‘straight’ script versions into what Kubrick termed a ‘nightmare comedy.’ It assesses Kubrick’s account of collaborating with the writers Peter George and Terry Southern against their individual remembrances and material archives. Peter Sellers’s improvisations are compared to written scripts and daily continuity reports, showcasing the actor’s brilliant talent and variations.
Table of Content
Acknowledgements
Dr Strangelove Timeline
Glossary
Introduction: Stanley Kubrick’s Atomic Antecedents
1. The Road to Strangelove: From Red Alert to The Delicate Balance of Terror and Beyond
2. Doctors Strangelove—a Character Evolution
3. ‘Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here’: Brinksmanship Amongst the Authors and Producers of Dr Strangelove and Fail-Safe
4. Authentically Strange: Presidential Predelegation, Fail-safes and Doomsday Machines
5. Reconstructing Strangelove: Outtakes from the Cutting Room Floor
Conclusion: Sons of Strangelove
Bibliography
Production Credits
Index
About the author
Mick Broderick is associate professor of media analysis in the School of Arts at Murdoch University, Western Australia. He is the author of
Nuclear Movies, editor of
Hibakusha Cinema: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Nuclear Image in Japanese Film, and coeditor of
Trauma, Media, Art: New Perspectives and
Interrogating Trauma: Collective Suffering in Global Art and Media.
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