Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

A few interesting pieces of trivia for you to enjoy:

• The ending in the script was different from the one in the film, and indeed a different ending was also filmed. The details are a little sketchy, but the people in the famous War Room threw cream pies at each other. The air was full of cream. This exchange of pies was a clear symbol of the missiles flying in the air from and toward the US.
• The famous "riding the bomb" scene was not planned, but was added during the shooting.
• The film was going to be premiered on November 22, 1963, but something unexpected happened: Kennedy was shot. The film premiere date was pushed ahead, and a scene where the pilots go through their survival kits (including condoms and vitamins) and the commander of the plane says, "A fella could have a fun time with these in Dallas" was dubbed to "A fella could have a fun time with these in Vegas." The lips of the actor are clearly out of sync.
• The actor (George C. Scott) playing the general in the War Room was known to be quite a rough and "tough boy." He had a lot of fights in previous movies, etc. Kubrik, however, "tamed" him by playing chess with him. Kubrik was a pretty good player, so Scott pondered his moves for hours and then Kubrik would walk over and move in less than a minute. Surprisingly (for some, maybe), Kubrik almost always won.

The alternate ending mentioned in Hexxx's write-up was actually meant to happen this way; the Russian Ambassador de Sadesky and General Buck Turqidson get in a fight and resort to throwing pies at each other from the tables of food that are set off to the side. Others get involved, and there are so many pies flying around the air, that one hits President Muffley in the head, snapping his neck, killing him. The scene was cut because of the recent death of JFK, and Major Kong's dialogue about having a good time in Dallas was changed for the same reason.

Another major change to the script was in the scene where General Ripper shoots himself. Group Captain Lionel Mandrake enters the restroom, because of the lapse in conversation to find nothing. No Ripper. No body. Nothing, as if Ripper had never existed. This was changed when Kubrick decided to leave the script as a comedy.

When my brother went into OCS, Dr. Strangelove was one of the films on his required viewing list. When I first heard this, I thought it odd, but then realized it made sense. The film covers the concept of the no-win scenario and the possibility of the misdirection or complete breakdown of the command structure. This was also covered in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers in more detail (two more of the books on his required reading list). I asked him for a complete list of the things he had to read and view, but he could not remember.

Slightly back on topic, Arlington High School of Arlington, Texas, did a live performance of Dr. Strangelove for their 2001 student directed production. So far as I have found, this has been the only live performance of the script. It really annoyed the teachers there; because the students got better reviews than the school had for several years.