: Study Questions: Week Eleven

Nuclear Nightmare: From Tragic Necessity to Black Comedy

Fail-safe (1964) and Dr. Strangelove (1964).

The building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 followed by the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 made the prospects of a nuclear war more seem more frightening and increasingly futile. Such a war came to be regarded as one likely to end not in victory but in mutual annihilation. A number of films dramatized these fears during the early 1960s, and they treated atomic war as either a tragic error or as a black comedy. This pair of films provide good examples of the contrasting points of view. Both films portray a nuclear engagement which is precipitated by defense systems which cannot be controlled by their military managers. Technology failure, human weakness, and ideological rigidity combine to visit disaster on the combatants. Moreover, they indicate the degree to which criticism of the Cold War policies of the 1950s had become part of mainstream public discourse in the United States. They also reflect a general disillusionment in the authority of governmental policy makers.

1. Like the Berlin films, Dr. Strangelove and Fail-safe reflect two very different perspectives on the dangers of nuclear war. In what ways do they share a common criticism of the nuclear standoff precipitated by the Cold War, and how do they criticize the prevailing Cold War mentality in the United States?

2. Which film, in your estimation, is more effective in winning audiences over to its point of view? Why?

3. Again like the Berlin films, the works by Kubrick and Lumet use the same narrative conventions. What similarities do you see in the plot structure, in characters who have similar roles in each film, in the resolution of the dilemma faced by the United States and Russia?

4. Fail-safe places a great emphasis on the families of the military men and and political figures. How does this emphasis enlist the sympathy of viewers in ways which Kubrick's characters do not?

5. Does the emphasis on dialogue (often long, ideological discussions) in Fail-safe make the dangers of nuclear war more convincing than the humor in Dr. Strangelove? Why? Why not? Consider specifically the contrast between Dr. Groeteschele and Dr. Strangelove. Why, do you suppose, they are both obviously German? Also the similarities between General Ripper and Col. Cascio?

6. What is the importance of casting Henry Fonda as the President? How does Fonda's screen persona help elicit sympathy for the character?

7. Why is Peter Sellers cast in three roles (the President, the British officer , and Dr. Strangelove)? Illness prevented him from playing a fourth: Col. Kong the bomber commander. Is this just a chance to let Sellers display his talents, or is there thematic significance in connecting these four characters? If so, what is it?

8. From the films opening sequence of the bombers refueling to the final shot of the world exploding as a love song plays on the sound track, sex and death are constantly connected throughout Dr. Strangelove. What is the significance of this connection? What does it suggest about the underlying causes of the nuclear threat and the Cold War which gave birth to it?

9. Why, in your estimation, does Kubrick combine the techniques of the thriller (Will the B-52 get to its target?) with the satiric qualities of the Black Comedy?

10. In what ways does Kubrick's film become a criticism of a misplaced faith in technology as much as a criticism of the Cold War?

11. What is the moral significance of the difference between the cause of the nuclear attack in Fail-safe and that in Dr. Strangelove?

12. Both films, but especially Dr. Strangelove, were criticized for encouraging citizens to distrust their leaders. What does this criticism imply about the moral sense of the Cold Warriors?

13. How does the intercutting of three plots (the War Room, the B-52, and Burpleson Air Force Base) help create an absorbing narrative and highlight the objects of Kubrick's satire?

14. Which film has the more disturbing conclusion? Why?

15. In what ways does Fail-safe suggest that national leaders are to be respected for being able to shape the consequences of even the most terrible events? In what ways does Dr. Strangelove achieve the opposite effect?