The threat of nuclear war remains an overriding concern for Kubrick. He recently told Entertainment Weekly, ''The nightmare themes portrayed in Dr. Strangelove will be with us as long as we have nuclear weapons. Many experts believe the most likely nuclear war might arise from accident, miscalculation, or madness, which might then go quickly out of control due to the problems of authenticating what each side is saying or doing, and the sudden failure of communications, probably caused by the radiation effects of nuclear explosions.''

Ironically, Kubrick's cautionary movie itself came close to annihilation. Even as recent critical surveys were ranking Strangelove among the greatest American films, Kubrick discovered, after a two-year search for the original negative, that Columbia Studios had lost virtually all of it (only one mutilated reel remained). He has since created duplicate negatives using a fine-grain master positive, thus insuring that his masterpiece will be around for future generations.


TIME CAPSULE JAN. 30, 1964

Dwight Eisenhower's Mandate for Change and John Kennedy's Profiles in Courage top the best-seller list; The Beatles ride high on the pop charts with ''I Want to Hold Your Hand,'' in its fourth week at No. 1; and The Beverly Hillbillies is the most watched TV show.

Originally posted Jan 25, 1991 Published in issue #50 Jan 25, 1991 Order article reprints
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