While often referred to simply as Dr. Strangelove, the full title for Stanley Kubrick‘s 1964 dark, political comedy is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and as you can see from the image below, pulled from “The Stanley Kubrick Archives” by Lists of Note (via Flavorwire), Kubrick had several different and curious ideas when it came to possible titles for the film. And considering it’s based on Peter George’s less than adventurously titled “Red Alert” makes Kubrick’s exploration for a title of whim and meaning even more fascinating.
The titles on the page, as compiled by Lists of Notes, include the following:
- Doctor Doomsday
- Don’t Knock the Bomb
- Dr. Doomsday and his Nuclear Wiseman
- Dr. Doomsday Meets Ingrid Strangelove
- Dr. Doomsday or: How to Start World War III Without Even Trying
- Dr. Strangelove’s Bomb
- Dr. Strangelove’s Secret Uses of Uranus
- My Bomb, Your Bomb
- Save The Bomb
- Strangelove: Nuclear Wiseman
- The Bomb and Dr. Strangelove or: How to be Afraid 24hrs a Day
- The Bomb of Bombs
- The Doomsday Machine
- The Passion of Dr. Strangelove
- Wonderful Bomb
Personally the one that jumps off the page is Dr. Strangelove’s Secret Uses of Uranus but it’s interesting overall to get such an intimate look at the brainstorming process of a filmmaker most (including myself) hold in such high esteem.
