Table of Contents
For Carl,
and the rest of us
P.O.E.
A Wallflower Press Book
Published by
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright 2017 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
E-ISBN 978-0-231-85100-8
Wallflower Press is a registered trademark of Columbia University Press
A complete CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-0-231-17708-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-17709-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-85100-8 (e-book)
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Cover image:
Stanley Kubrick lines up a shot in the War Room set of Dr. Strangelove.
Publicity still Columbia Pictures 1964.
Contents
M y sincere thanks go to Katharina Kubrick for helping me start the ball rolling on this project a couple of years after Stanleys all-too-premature passing. Katharina provided entre to the family and the then, as yet uncatalogued, archive. Christiane Kubrick was a gracious host for my two-week visit to Childwickbury in April 2005, kindly facilitated by her brother and Stanleys executive producer and estate executor, Jan Harlan. It was a delight to sit in the Kubrick family library surrounded by scores of Dr. Strangelove boxes, filled with files and photographs. Christiane also provide me with a fascinating and lengthy interview, and Katharina later added some childhood recollections.
My great appreciation is also extended to the son of novelist Peter George, David, and his wife Lorraine, for their hospitality in Hastings on a few short visits during the course of the research and writing. Peter Georges eldest daughter Sara also kindly offered her memories of the period. I am similarly grateful to the son of author Terry Southern, Nile, and his mother Carol, who found time for me to visit both of their homes in the US for interviews.
Other Kubrick collaborators generously offered their recollections over the years, including early career Kubrick producing partner/director James B. Harris; Stanleys career-long attorney Louis C. Blau; Lolita and Dr. Strangelove editor Anthony Harvey; Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange titles, trailer and cut-up artist Pablo Ferro; and Kubricks long-time personal assistant Tony Frewin.
was first published in the Tatjana Ljujic, Richard Daniels and Peter Krmer edited collection, Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives (Black Dog), revised here with thanks.
Yoram Allon, Commissioning Editor at Wallflower Press, has remained remarkably steadfast and good-humoured during my protracted delays, as has Meredith Howard at Columbia University Press. Thanks also to designer Elsa Mathern for her canny cover work conjuring Pablo Ferros Strangelove title style.
Institutional support came in the form of two sabbatical study leaves approved by my former School of Media, Communication & Culture, and current School of Arts at Murdoch University. AMK (alt.movies.kubrick) administered by Rod Munday both in internet and social media form provided the gateway for my initial outreach to the Kubricks in 2002 and AMK has continued to be a source of wisdom and online resourcing. Fellow AMKer, Village Voice film critic Bilge Ebri, also lent his support early to promote the project, as did Toby Miller more recently in a lengthy podcast highlighting the research. Other correspondents who provided, or otherwise offered, assistance include Curtis Tsui from the Criteron Collection, and biographers Rhys Lloyd and Lee Hill. Jonathan Parfrey, former executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility (LA) and now heading US not-for-profit NGO, Climate Resolve, has provided decades of informative banter and deep insight on matters nuclear and cinematic. The lovely Christine Spiegel has been a stalwart companion during the past two years of manuscript work.
The wonderful National Security Archive (NSA) at Georgetown University remains a formidable repository of declassified nuclear documentation drawn from both sides of the Iron Curtain. William Burrs resolute Cold War scrutiny has been at the vanguard of endless Freedom of Information (FOI) requests that have released thousands of pages of preciously secret material, shedding light on nuclear security matters past and present. The NSAs director of communication, Lauren Harper, also provided expert advice on the FOI request and appeals processes of the FBI and CIA, although both agencies responded too late for any detailed inclusion here.
Michelle Morrison and, in particular, Gwen Velge assisted with timely endnote formatting and citation assistance, while Erin Hawley generously helped with the initial auditing of the thousands of Strangelove papers from Childwickbury. Good friend and perennial collaborator on matters atomic, Bo Jacobs, turned his nuclear gaze to the unpublished manuscript, as did my frequent screen co-producer and co-writer, Stuart Bender. Im especially grateful to Stanley Kubrick Archivist Richard Daniels who diligently provided important feedback at short notice. I thank them all for their incisive and astute comments. Needless to say I remain entirely responsible for the content and any matters of inaccuracy that may have inevitably slipped through the cracks.
But Id like to hold off judgement on a thing like that until all the facts are in.
Mick Broderick
Perth, Western Australia
July 2016
1945
President Roosevelt dies in office 12 April. Fifteen-year-old Stanley Kubricks photo of a despondent newspaper vendor is sold to Look magazine for $25, appearing in 26 June issue.
Kubrick completes his formal education at Taft high school.
First atomic detonation, code named Trinity, near Alamagordo in New Mexico, 16 July.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed by atomic bombs Little Boy (uranium gun) and Fat Man (plutonium implosion), respectively killing 140,000 and 70,000 Japanese on 6 and 9 August. Tens of thousands more die in the following months.
Soviet Union declares war on Japan, invading Manchuria same day as the Nagasaki attack. Japanese Emperor announces surrender via radio on 14 August. Formal surrender occurs 14 September aboard the USS Missouri.
1946
Winston Churchill delivers his Iron Curtain speech in Missouri, 5 March.
Kubrick graduates from Taft high school in January.
Kubrick contributes multiple photo essays as an informal apprentice photographer for Look magazine from April to November.
A-bombs Able and Baker detonated at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific in early July. Due to the high levels of radioactivity affecting the surrounding ships, test shot Charlie is cancelled.
1947
Kubrick promoted to staff photographer at Look, 7 January.
5 August issue of Look features a cover photo with credit by Stanley Kubrick.
Kubrick obtains a private pilots certificate, 15 August.
1948
Kubrick marries high school sweetheart Toba Metz on 29 May and moves to Greenwich Village.
