by Paul Costello
War is Hell… or Hilarious, I can never remember which one. If there were any film responsible for such understandable confusion, it’s got to be Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 black comedy about a mad general who orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union. The film itself was loosely based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George and was fully intended to be a serious thriller until Kubrick decided that the whole thing was too funny to take seriously.
War is Hell… or Hilarious, I can never remember which one. If there were any film responsible for such understandable confusion, it’s got to be Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 black comedy about a mad general who orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union. The film itself was loosely based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George and was fully intended to be a serious thriller until Kubrick decided that the whole thing was too funny to take seriously.
It’s Peter Sellers that often gets the lion’s share of attention in this film, particularly in playing three separate, very distinct characters. However, it’s the monologue delivered by Sterling Hayden’s General Jack D. Ripper that best encapsulates the tone of the film. As far Kubrick was concerned, Mutually Assured Destruction was a policy that could only have been cooked up by lunatics, but was so absurd that it was simultaneously terrifying and hilarious. And that’s this monologue.
And don’t you just love Sterling Hayden. A great actor who was able to easily portray characters that you would initially think would be somehow at odds, often within the same role. A leading man of noir and westerns, he came to be recognised for his deep voice, stern face and enormous physical presence. Having worked with Kubrick before on The Killing, the director obviously knew he was perfect for the unhinged, commie-hating Air Force general. It also comes with the extra hint of irony that Hayden was himself briefly a Communist.
And don’t you just love Sterling Hayden. A great actor who was able to easily portray characters that you would initially think would be somehow at odds, often within the same role. A leading man of noir and westerns, he came to be recognised for his deep voice, stern face and enormous physical presence. Having worked with Kubrick before on The Killing, the director obviously knew he was perfect for the unhinged, commie-hating Air Force general. It also comes with the extra hint of irony that Hayden was himself briefly a Communist.
Hayden plays General Ripper dead straight, which is amazing considering the stuff he has to say (his repeated use of the phrase “precious bodily fluids” is always priceless). The cigar-chomping man’s man whose hard stare speaks of his true conviction of tactical supremacy, even though his actions will ultimately lead to total nuclear war, Hayden holds onto his path right to the end and is something of an unsung comedic highlight of the film.
Setting the scene: With the orders already given to bomb the Soviet Union, Group Captain Mandrake (Sellers) discovers that the order did not come from the President, but from Ripper himself. Knowing he must stop this, Mandrake attempts to leave, but Ripper locks the doors to keep him from calling off the mission. Now trapped with his mad superior officer, Ripper outlines the reasoning behind his orders to his group captain…
Setting the scene: With the orders already given to bomb the Soviet Union, Group Captain Mandrake (Sellers) discovers that the order did not come from the President, but from Ripper himself. Knowing he must stop this, Mandrake attempts to leave, but Ripper locks the doors to keep him from calling off the mission. Now trapped with his mad superior officer, Ripper outlines the reasoning behind his orders to his group captain…
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