Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Great Scenes # 36: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
 
Director Stanley Kubrick is known for his big visuals and serious drama so it's kind of weird that I'm selecting this one as part of my "Great Scenes" list since Kubrick lots of stunning visual and dramatic scenes. This is one of the funniest scenes in Kubrick classic anti-war black comedy Dr. Strangelove. In this scene, the U.S President calls up the Prime Minister of Russia informing him of an unauthorized nuclear attack launched by crazed general Jack D. Ripper. What follows is a hilarious largely improvised scene by Peter Sellers as he tries to talk with an apparently drunk Russian Prime Minister. Kubrick is known for his perfectionism but he was rolling on the floor with laughter as Peter was doing this take, that he insisted that the scripted lines get thrown out and this be used in the final cut instead.

4 comments:

Outcast said...

This is actually amazing man, especially when you consider that the entire scene was all improvised. I find this a really good film in general, one of Kubrick's finest films in my honest opinion.

Mark said...

I've heard great things about Dr. Strangelove but I've still not seen it yet.

Kenneth Tso said...

On my to watch list now!

MRanthrope said...

I never get tired of watching this film. It's scary how well the film has held up and, unfortunately how relevant it still is these days.