The one aspect of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb that stood out most to me was the attitudes of characters throughout the film. Right from the start of the film we get a feeling of Captain Mandrake’s sort of friendliness along with General Ripper’s seriousness. The settings also express the different emotions; Mandrake is in a brightly lit room, somewhat joyfully doing his duties, in contrast to Ripper’s dark, musky office that gives a feeling that something is not right. The combination of far away camera shots and dim lighting gave Rippers room a feeling that accompanied his fear and aggression very well.

Another character of interest in the film was of course Dr. Strangelove. Whenever we see Dr. Strangelove in the film he is accompanied by dark lighting, and is always the center of attention as he speaks. Even though the setting for the Doctor is similar to General Rippers with dark lighting, his attitude is something very different. He is a very mysterious man whose characteristics give rise to many questions about his past. One of the most interesting qualities of Dr. Strangelove, besides his wheelchair, is the black glove he wears on his right hand. The black glove gives Strangelove a whole other dimension of mysteriousness: Kubric thought the glove helped “give the arm a life of its own. That arm hated the rest of the body for having made a compromise. That arm was a Nazi” (Stillman 494).

Last, but certainly not least, the great Major Kong had a major influence on the intensity of the film. Kong is the centerpiece of almost every action shot of the film, and “In the movie, this type of excitement pervades the near miss by the missile, evasive and low-flying tactics of the bomber, and finally Major T.J. ‘King’ Kong (Slim Pickens) bull riding the H-bomb over the target site” (Stillman 491). If I remember anything from this film it is going to be the image of Kong screaming out yahoos and swinging his cowboy hat around. He was full of ambition to serve his country; which he thought had been attacked already. What makes this scene even more disturbing is the camera angle that seats the audience on top of the bomb right across from the soon to be incinerated Major Kong. This short scene also provides a sort of conclusion to everything that has been going on in the movie, and personally I was caught off guard. I was expecting a happy ending where somehow the message not to drop the bomb was sent to the plane. Even though the shot of Kong enjoying his ride was a little difficult to watch, it was a major part of the film and said a lot about his character.

Works Cited

Kubrick, Stanley, dir. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.1964. Columbia Pictures, 2009.

Stillman, Grant, “Two of the MaDdest Scientists.” Film History. 20 (2008): 487-500.