Easily the scariest film to feature a character called ‘Merkin’, Stanley Kubrick’s nuclear nightmare was his big breakthrough – the one that teed up 2001: A Space Odyssey – and it remains one of his greatest films. Which, obviously, is saying something. Peter Sellers plays three characters, one a deranged ex-Nazi with an unfortunate habit of addressing the U.S. President (also Sellers) as "Mein Führer”; another, a prim R.A.F. man baffled at how the nuke-happy Yanks could career willingly towards all-out war. Fifty years old and still frighteningly topical, it’s a masterpiece of satire with a remarkable cast (George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, Sterling Hayden) and vast sets that demand to be witnessed on the big screen. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you gasp, it’ll make you build a large underground bunker.
This screening is presented by Criterion Collection – one of three to be hosted by the cinephile’s favourite.