'Dr. Strangelove' script edited after Kennedy assassination?

[moonfall]

One of my professors recently stated during a discussion of "Dr. Strangelove" that several lines and scenes from the movie had been changed in the wake of the assassination of JFK. The final scene supposedly involved a pie fight in which the (fictional) president gets hit in the face. A reference to "Dallas" was also changed to "Moscow."

I searched snopes and only found the "Manchurian Candidate" rumor.

[musicgeek]

http://pages.prodigy.com/kubrick/kubds.htm

http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/d/...ove_40ae.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove

These all seem to support aspects of the story, but a different reason is given for the cutting of the pie fight sequence, and "Dallas" was changed to "Vegas," not "Moscow."

[E. Q. Taft]

One thing I do seem to remember is that, in the novelization of the film (which is different from the novel Red Alert on which the film is loosely based), the "prefix code" used by General Ripper is different: rather than "POE" -- Peace on Earth/Purity of Essence -- it was "JFK," which was explained as an acronym for "Joe For King." I never quite understood that, but now I wonder if the novelization had already gone to press before the assassination. (It's been thirty-some years since I read it, so I don't remember the full explanation, but I do remember the "Joe for King" bit.)

ETA: From IMDB:

Another reason for cutting the custard pie fight at the end of the film was that at one point, President Muffley took a pie in the face and fell down, prompting Gen. Turgidson to cry, "Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has just been struck down in his prime!" Stanley Kubrick had already decided to cut the pie fight by the time of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, but this line (or possibly even the whole sequence) would certainly have been cut anyway due to its eerie similarity to real events.

It also says that the only known screening of the pie fight footage was in 1999, at a screening in London after Kubrick's death.

[Ali Infree]

It makes sense that they would remove Dallas for Vegas, even though Dallas might fit Slim Pickens' pilot character better. Occasionally, movie releases are delayed for something resembling concern, witness the Schwarznegger film that had him avenging the death of his family in a bombing. That release was rescheduled after 9-11.

That film is so funny for all the right reasons!

The pie fight is a much sillier end to Strangelove than the end we all know, although that was my introduction to Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again.

Ali "my essence, or Emeril's?" Infree

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

The pie fight is a much sillier end to Strangelove than the end we all know, although that was my introduction to Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again.

The pie fight would have been funny, but it wouldn't really have been in keeping with the rest of the film.

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

It makes sense that they would remove Dallas for Vegas, even though Dallas might fit Slim Pickens' pilot character better.

I think the Vegas line's much better even without assassination references - anybody can see why you'd go to Las Vegas for a "pretty good weekend", whereas if the line had been about Dallas, a lot of people would just be wondering, why Dallas? Even if the character is from Texas, I'd still think "why Dallas?"

(And why would simply mentioning a weekend in Dallas have to be an assassination reference anyway? Removing all mention of the place in any context seems a bit extreme if that was the reason.)

[Tarquin Farquart]

I've only just got Slim Pickens' name after so many years. Duh!

[Mycroft]

"Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has just been struck down in his prime!"

I thought the Peter Sellars as President character was not notably young (definately older in appearance than the RAF officer)

[Ali Infree]

Peter Sellers as President character was not notably young (definately older in appearance than the RAF officer)

True, but the George C. Scott character was deliberately over-the-top in manner and verbosity, so that line might have been used by him.
OTOH, it adds a lot to the assassination angle, so grain of salt time, I think.

Ali "Yee HAW!" Infree

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

I thought the Peter Sellars as President character was not notably young (definately older in appearance than the RAF officer)

Peter Sellars didn't play the president. Though he would have been about five when the movie was released, so he would have been quite young.

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

Peter Sellars didn't play the president. Though he would have been about five when the movie was released, so he would have been quite young.

If that article is accurate then he was about 6 when he starred in The Pink Panther.

[musicgeek]

Originally Posted by Sly Dog

If that article is accurate then he was about 6 when he starred in The Pink Panther.

Peter SellErs

Peter SellArs

No charge.