Pop Culture 101 - DR. STRANGELOVE

Some of the dialogue of the film has entered the common language - "precious bodily fluids," of course, and also the way the dim-witted Col. Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) hints darkly of Commie "preverts," possibly the first public use of that term.

On Oscar® night, April 5, 1965, emcee Bob Hope used the film's subtitle to poke fun at a notorious casting decision. Julie Andrews had created the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on Broadway. But when the film was cast, the producing studio, Warner Bros., chose the bigger star, Audrey Hepburn, over Andrews. Andrews got her revenge when she was nominated (and eventually won) for the title role in one of the year's biggest hits, Mary Poppins (1964). During his opening monologue, Hope spotted a beaming Andrews in the audience and made reference to her role in "Mary Poppins, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Jack Warner." Dr. Strangelove was also up for four Oscars that year but lost three of them (director, picture and actor) to My Fair Lady and the fourth (adapted screenplay) to Becket.

The November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy figured into the film in several ways. Examining the survival kit provided by the Air Force (which included weapons, food, condoms, lipstick and nylons, uppers, downers and tranquilizers), Major Kong remarks, "Gee, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff." The line had originally referenced Dallas, but after the assassination there, it was redubbed with the word Vegas substituted. Kubrick had planned to close the film with a custard pie fight in the War Room (and some shots show the room's tables filled with desserts), but decided it was not an effective ending. JFK's murder, however, also played a part in that decision. In the aborted fight, President Muffley was smacked in the face with a pie and fell over, prompting General Turgidson to cry out, "Gentlemen, our gallant young president has just been struck down in his prime by a pie!" a line considered tasteless in light of recent events. Finally, the film's release was delayed from early December 1963 to January 1964 because a dark political satire seemed inappropriate following so closely on the heels of the assassination. Some references to the film still give its release date as 1963.