The Pink Panther (1963)

For most of my life, the Pink Panther was only a cartoon character from an animated series. Then, quite recently, I learnt that that character originated from Blake Edward's crime comedy The Pink Panther, and being a fan of crime movies and having heard good things about it, I decided to check it out. 

The story follows a French detective, Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers), who is obsessively trying to catch a jewel thief known as "The Phantom". A lead takes him to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, at a ski resort where English playboy Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) and bored Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale), who has with her the Pink Panther diamond, are also staying. 

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Genre

Comedy | War

Director

Stanley Kubrick

Country

USA | UK

Cast

Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, Tracy Reed, Shane Rimmer

Storyline

U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper (Sterling Hayden) goes completely and utterly mad, and believing that fluoridation of the American water is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. Now it's up to a room full of politicians, including General Turgidson (George C. Scott), President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove (both played by Peter Sellers), to stop the upcoming nuclear war.

Opinion

Taking a subject like the cold war, and telling it like a comedy is possible if you have of the one and only Stanley Kubrick.

Beside having a very long title, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a superb satire of man, his fears, and his delusions. In fact, on the one hand stands out the sarcasm towards the politicians and the military structure, but on the other hand is the irony towards the mankind, and their/our desire to a limitless science - that is only likely to make the mankind take a step backwards - that stands out.

The hilariousness and horror of this nuclear war is skillfully directed and written by mastermind Stanley Kubrick. The plot, loosely based on Peter George's Red Alert, is excellent, and it's very well pace. The characters are also well-written, memorable and interesting. And the dialogue is quite simply great. 

This film can claim numerous memorable sequences, ironic yet gruesome at the same time, such as the one-sided phone call between the U.S. President and the Russian Prime Minister, or the final sequences where the pilot rides the nuclear bomb.

Also, Kubrick's hand-held camera techniques, Gilbert Taylor's black and white wonderful cinematography, and the spectacular and memorable War Room only add more impact. 

The acting is top-notch. Words can't describe Peter Sellers's brilliant performances in his three roles. With a wonderful accents, he is hilarious as British Officer Mandrake, incredibly gloomy as President Merkin Muffley, - also has a great one-sided dialogue with the Russian Prime Minister -, and simply and fantastically insane as ex-Nazi Dr. Strangelove. The fact that he improvised most of his lines makes you realize what an actor he was, and what a chemistry he had with Kubrick. George C. Scott is also spectacular as warmonger General Turgidson, and Sterling Hayden does a wonderful job as Jack Ripper, the General that went a little funny in the head. 

Quotes

President Merkin Muffley: Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.