On January 29, 1964, Columbia Pictures released "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Theatrical release poster by Tomi Ungerer

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George
Based on: Red Alert, by Peter George
Produced by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring:
Peter Sellers
George C. Scott
Sterling Hayden
Keenan Wynn
Slim Pickens
Tracy Reed
Cinematography: Gilbert Taylor
Edited by: Anthony Harvey
Music by: Laurie Johnson
Production company: Hawk Films
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release date: January 29, 1964

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (known simply and more commonly as Dr. Strangelove) is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is loosely based on the thriller novel Red Alert (1958) by Peter George, who wrote the screenplay with Kubrick and Terry Southern. It stars Peter Sellers in three roles. The film, financed and released by Columbia Pictures, was a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Strangelove parodies Cold War fears of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union and stars George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, and Tracy Reed. The story concerns an insane brigadier general of the United States Air Force who orders a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. It follows the President of the United States (Sellers), his scientific advisor Dr. Strangelove (Sellers), the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a Royal Air Force exchange officer (Sellers) as they attempt to stop the crew of a B-52 from bombing the Soviet Union and starting a nuclear war.

The film is considered one of the best comedy films and one of the greatest films of all time. In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it 26th in its list of the best American films (in the 2007 edition, the film ranked 39th), and in 2000, it was listed as number three on its list of the funniest American films. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress included Dr. Strangelove as one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Sellers. The film was also nominated for seven BAFTA Film Awards, winning Best Film From Any Source, Best British Film, and Best Art Direction (Black and White), and it also won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

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[Walleye]

1. Also, one of my favorite movies of all time. Can't believe they never won an Oscar with it

[Morbius]

2. Dr. Strangelove was released by Columbia Pictures.

In January of 1964. That same year, the same studio was due to release Fail Safe, which has some similarities in the story line. Kubrick insisted Strangelove had to come out first, so when Fail Safe came out in October, it bombed; people were used to laughing at the absurdity of nuclear war, and were unprepared to take it seriously, at least at the movies. It's a shame, because Fail Safe is a great movie; maybe not as good as Dr. Strangelove, but still really well-made. Unforgettable. It didn't deserve to flop. I think Kubrick sensed that whichever movie came out later would be unsuccessful.