Great title. Great director. Great performances (all three) from Peter Sellers and George C. Scott.It's smart and sexy and so stinking relevant that I can't believe people would actually go in to watch this film and not come out totally freaked out or totally relieved that someone was actually talking about what was always in the back of everyone's brains after World War II.
The film was released in January 1964 just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963 and smack-dab in the middle of the Cold War when everyone was on edge after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I was born long after and all I ever worried about were nuclear meltdowns and the Russians winning Olympic medals. But I do wonder how seriously all of this was taken at the time. Did kids and adults really think that ducking your head was going to help you survive an atomic bomb? To me, that's not taking things seriously.
But that was also the media (and the government) trying to mold thoughts. Surely everyone was on true pins and needles or were at least trying to hide their fears, which is OK. It didn't help being freaked out every day.
What I like best about Kubrick's film is that he puts a vast majority of the blame and responsibility falls on human interaction, communication and ineptitude. It's as if the bombs were pit bulls, and these world leaders were the dog owners. With enough negligence, anything can destroy.
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