Reconstructing Strangelove: Inside Stanley Kubrick's "Nightmare Comedy"

by Mick Broderick

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 With rare access to unpublished materials, this volume assesses Dr.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.

232 pages, Paperback

Published January 3, 2017

Reviews

[Filippo Ulivieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book about the making of Dr. Strangelove. I particularly enjoyed Broderick's reconstruction of how Kubrick first got interested in the nuclear war issue, how this affected both his creativity and his own family life (lengthy interview with Christiane Kubrick here), and how he developed a comic adaptation from a very serious thriller, shedding light on the roles that Peter George and Terry Southern played in writing the screenplay. The book also provides lots of information about the "atomic scientists" of the era, and their books and theories, who were used as an inspiration for the lines of dialogues and the characters personality in the film. An entire chapter sets the record straight about the plagiarism litigation between Kubrick and the producers of Fail-Safe, by making extensive use of archival sources and old trade magazines' articles. Finally, another chapter examines the continuity reports now held at the Kubrick Archive in London, documenting cut scenes, lines of expository dialogue that were dropped during editing, etc. My only quibble with this book is a certain lack of narrative drive, and a bit of cohesion: the chapters, though covering all the important aspects of the production, appear more as a standalone articles than parts of a flowing book. But these are minor complaints. My main point is that Broderick's account of the production of the film, thanks to primary interviews and a huge amount of archival research, is the most accurate to date, and it finally disputes what is commonly (and wrongly) known about the making of this iconic film. I wish all the books about Kubrick would be this good.

[Bradley Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen to my discussion about this book at the Of Books & Booze podcast!