Favorite Trailer Theatre: Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stopped Worrying And Love The Bomb (1963)
To honor Stanley Kubrick’s birthday, I’m flashing back to a day in Pablo Ferro’s studio — yes, the Pablo Ferro who gave us immortal title scenes for BULLITT, THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, MIDNIGHT COWBOY and HAROLD & MAUDE plus so many more (from SOMETHING WILD to NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE). On the wall before me were the actual cells from the famous credits for DR. STRANGELOVE OR HOW I etc. etc. I stared slack-jawed in proper cinephile awe and honor that I was so close to an actual slice of film history. The fiesty Ferro also created the trend-setting trailer, a rapid-fire montage that includes an image of Kubrick himself and that the distributor thought too kinetic but that propelled the era’s new wave experimentation. As for the film, it’s still my favorite of the director, thanks to Terry Southern’s fried satire and Kubrick’s visionary cynicism. And sadly, time has not tempered the world’s military-industrial malaise. Oh hell.
July 26, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Very cool! Since you obviously enjoy title sequences, like me, be sure to check out The History of the Title Sequence film that designer Jurjen Versteeg put together to honor those like Pablo Ferro. I think you’ll appreciate it.