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In high school history classes everyone learns about the “Cold War” era which began immediately after World War Two ended in 1945. It’s been awhile for some of us since then, so let’s refresh our memories briefly. This period of ideological and political conflict between the United States and its allies against Soviet Russia and its allies continued with varying degrees of intensity for decades, from 1945 until the collapse of Russia’s oppressive communist regime in 1990-91. Although these opposing blocs never engaged in direct warfare against each other, this protracted period had many consequences that still continue into the present.
One of the worst aspects of the Cold War era was the massive arms race built largely on fear that one bloc would accumulate too much power and dominate the rest of the world. While a vast amount of money and resources were expended by both sides on conventional weapons to greatly expand their armies, navies, and air forces during this long time period, the massive stockpiling of nuclear weapons chiefly by the United States and Soviet Russia was the most expensive and dangerous aspect of the Cold War era.
The animosity, fear, and paranoia caused by this ever mounting arms race finally came to a head during October, 1962 with what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. To this day, that tense 13-day period is the closest that the world ever came to nuclear war — which would have literally exterminated all life on our planet. This incredibly tense stand-off between the United States and Russia occurred when the US demanded that Russia remove missiles with nuclear warheads from its ally Cuba and set up a naval blockade to prevent any further missiles being placed on that island.
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Thanks to exceptional and nerve-wracking diplomacy the crisis was resolved after thirteen long days of burning the midnight oil. If resolution wasn’t found it could have led to a nuclear holocaust and we wouldn’t be here to ponder any of this now. In any event, within two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis subsided, three highly acclaimed and controversial films were released and all of them are memorable time capsules about the nuclear threat aspects of the Cold War period.
The first of these films was Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb) released on January 29, 1964. In my estimation it’s one of the best films ever made exposing the absurdity and folly of human conflict and the dangers of those in powerful positions who abuse it with catastrophic results. It functions brilliantly as satire because if it was made as a straight drama — the subject matter would be almost too dreadful to contemplate. I won’t give away too much of the story for anyone who hasn’t seen it but might like to. Based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George from 1958, Dr. Strangelove concerns a nutcase U.S. Air Force Brigadier General (Sterling Hayden) who is itching for the United States to launch a nuclear attack against Russia.
In an attempt to thwart such a terrible possibility, the President, his main scientific adviser, and a British Royal Air Force officer (all three parts played by Peter Sellers) and the Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff (George C. Scott) have to figure out how to prevent a B-52 bomber from carrying out this unspeakable attack. Incidentally, I think having the comically gifted Sellers playing three major roles in Dr. Strangelove is one of the best gimmicks of casting in Hollywood history. This alone makes it worthy of viewing, but the sobering narrative illustrates a major change in human history that cannot ever be undone. The mid-20th century marked the start of what became (the wildly ridiculous, but could still be true) theory of MAD — “Mutually Assured Destruction” in which the massive arms stockpiles owned by each opposing camp would prevent either one from launching a nuclear attack first. After all, there would be no winner to emerge regardless of who launched first!
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This brings us to another frightening aspect of Dr. Strangelove because of the “doomsday machine” created by Soviet Russia in the story. This system would automatically detonate all of their nuclear weapons in response to an attack from the United States. This is especially terrifying considering that every human endeavor will have some inherent flaws no matter how well designed and intended. What is the last step either side could implement to before reaching “Nuclear Midnight”, the point of no return is reached? When thinking about this, I wonder how much possible room for error could there be? If one superpower perceives an attack is imminent from the other, but they realize at the last minute they were mistaken…doesn’t change by one iota that we would all be wiped for good!
The scenario depicted in Dr. Strangelove is still relevant today. For instance, how can we know for a certainty that Russia wouldn’t use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine, even in a “limited” capacity? Vladimir Putin has even hinted at this. It’s also very disturbing that nuclear weapons have proliferated alarmingly since Dr. Strangelove was released in 1964. Nuclear weapons are no longer the exclusive preserve of the two superpowers, The United States and Russia. In total, nine countries are known to possess them: including The United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. This “elite” club have a mind-blowing 9,614 nuclear warheads between them! The US and Russia easily account for over two thirds of that total. This is all the more hair-raising as India and Pakistan share a very long, unhappy border and are bitter enemies for any number of historical reasons.
Thus far they’ve barely managed to restrain themselves from a major confrontation with conventional weapons as it is — so a Dr. Strangelove type scenario among those hostile countries isn’t too far fetched. This illustrates the entitlement and megalomania of the top political and military brass in many of these countries to dither and play god, keeping the lives of eight billion humans and every other living thing on the planet in their clutches. For these reasons Dr. Strangelove continues to resonate vividly in our time and the ending is one the most indelible and over-the-top in cinematic history!
Note 🗒️: Despite this pervasive depiction in popular culture, red phones ☎️ were never used between the leaders of the United State or the Soviet Union for crisis discussions during the Cold 🥶 War. It is entirely made up from a screenwriter’s imagination.
Note: Although Dr. Strangelove was nominated in four Academy Award categories, for Best Picture, Best Director (Stanley Kubrick), Best Actor (Peter Sellers), and Best Adapted Screenplay, amazingly it didn’t win any of them!
In the next two weeks I will be discussing the other two Cold War classics from 1964, Seven Days In May & Fail-Safe!
