Awesome Scene Sunday: "Went and did a silly thing"

This week saw the birthday of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: the late Stanley Kubrick. A visionary director, he was responsible for some of the most influential movies of the latter half of the last century, as well as two of my all time favourites: The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. Both of those films are disturbing examinations of the human mind, featuring characters driven mad by the horrors that surround them. Indeed, madness is a theme that recurs throughout almost all of Kubrick's films.

The "Kubrick stare", as seen in A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining and Barry Lyndon

However insanity doesn't just make for good drama - it can also inspire some absolutely hilarious comedy. Released in the middle of the Cold War, Dr. Strangelove is a biting satire that exploits the public fear of the nuclear bomb. The following scene features Peter Sellers as US President Merkin Muffley, who has to inform his Russian counterpart that one of his commanders "went a little funny in the head". Hysterical, absurd and a little bit frightening, Dr. Strangelove is one of the greatest comedies of all time, and like all of Kubrick's best works, it is as effective now as it was when it was first released.