10 Great Screenplays: #8 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

I will begin by saying that the screenplay for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is classic Stanley Kubrick, who co-wrote it with satirical novelist and screenwriter, Terry Southern. For one thing, the draft available for reading runs to an astoundingly low number of 55 pages. The accepted standard in the film industry is one page for every minute of screen time, yet the screenplay for Dr. Strangelove is about half the length of a usual feature film script. It's about as long as a pilot for a TV Drama, yet the final produced film runs for 103 minutes or 1 hour and 43 minutes. Kubrick was never one to follow the Hollywood norms.

Yee-haw! Hollywood!

Now onto the story...er...rather the situation. A general, Jack Ripper (whose middle name I like to think is "the"), decides to go rogue and activate a "fail-safe" command to order a nuclear attack on the Soviets. He takes every precaution against possible reversal, shutting down all forms of communication and tells his men to shoot anyone who tries to enter, as the enemy might be masquerading in American uniforms. Naturally, this would cause quite an uproar in the chain of command.President Merkin Muffley calls in every high ranking military officer, including Buck Turgidson (at an inopportune time) and the highly mysterious ex-Nazi, Dr. Strangelove.

Do you really need me in the War Room? 

They discuss possible ways of stopping the attack, but Turgidson constantly says it can't be done. Ripper is the only one who knows the code and he has excommunicated himself from the outside world. Eventually, Muffley orders a base commander to do whatever he can to get into Ripper's base. 

Also, while the men are trying to contact the Soviet Premier Kissov over the phone, Muffley announces that a Soviet Ambassador will be allowed into the War Room. This angers General Turgidson, who engages in fisticuffs with the perceived intruder upon seeing him. Apparently, such behavior is forbidden in the peaceful confines of the War Room. 

Need I say anyrhing?

After letting the Premier know what is about to go down, the ambassador announces that the "doomsday machine" will be activated if a nuclear bomb reaches Soviet soil. Panic has set in. Shifting between the plane (led by Major Kong) nearing its target, Ripper's office, and the War Room, events unfold which lead to only one thing--massive annihilation.

In the end, Dr. Strangelove explains a plan that will see the survival the human race (This differs from the movie, it happens much earlier on).

Why the short summary? Once again, the screenplay was very short and there's really not a whole lot to the general outlay of the plot. What makes it so special is the dialogue and the wonderful use of satire. Irony, a necessary component of satire, is all over the place and makes for laughs amidst the seemingly serious action. Not many writers and filmmakers are capable of doing such a beautiful job. It's like I said, Kubrick never was one to follow the Hollywood norms.

P.S Terry Southern definitely deserves some love for his work on the screenplay. Kubrick hired him after reading The Magic Christian, Southern's satirical novel. 

P.P.S Dr. Strangelove is based on the novel, Red Alert, by Peter George.