Stanley Kubrick’s sharp cold-war satire, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, debuted 50 years ago on Jan. 29, 1964. And a half century later, it’s still widely regarded as one of the best movies ever (it ranks No. 39 on the AFI’s list of the 100 best films of all time).

Stars Tracy Reed and George C. Scott take a pause from filming to conference with Stanley Kubrick. (Getty Images)

In honor of the anniversary, we’ve compiled six little-known facts about Kubrick’s masterpiece:

1. Kubrick considered a variety of titles before settling on the one we know today. He sketched out these options (see them written in his own handwriting at listsofnote.com):

Doctor Doomsday

Don’t Knock the Bomb

Dr. Doomsday and his Nuclear Wiseman

Dr. Doomsday Meets Ingrid Strangelove

Dr. Doomsday or: How to Start World War III Without Even Trying

Dr. Strangelove’s Bomb

Dr. Strangelove’s Secret Uses of Uranus

My Bomb, Your Bomb

Save The Bomb

Strangelove: Nuclear Wiseman

The Bomb and Dr. Strangelove or: How to be Afraid 24hrs a Day

The Bomb of Bombs

The Doomsday Machine

The Passion of Dr. Strangelove

Wonderful Bomb

2. The film’s premiere was originally scheduled for early in December 1963, but was delayed until January of the next year. Why? John F. Kennedy was assassinated that November, and it seemed inappropriate to release a biting political satire so closely afterward. In fact, a screening of the film had been scheduled for that very day (see photo below), but Kubrick decided to cancel it—and even tweaked the film out of respect for JFK. A line that would’ve said “a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas” (which was, of course, the city where JFK was killed) was changed to “… in Vegas,” according to Time. Another scene that included a line that read “our beloved President has been struck down in his prime” was also cut.

3. Ever noticed the big table of food in the “War Room”? Kubrick had planned—and filmed—an ending featuring a custard pie fight between the Russians and the Americans but decided against it.

The War Room (Getty Images)

4. Star Peter Sellers was reportedly paid $1 million (about $7.5 million in today’s dollars)—which accounted for more than half of the movie’s entire budget—to appear in the film as three characters: Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick has been quoted as saying, “I got three for the price of six.”

Peter Sellers. (Getty Images)

5. Dr. Strangelove’s creepy black leather glove actually belonged to Kubrick. Sellers allegedly noticed the director wearing them to protect his hands from the heat of the lights on set, thought they looked menacing, and borrowed one to make Dr. Strangelove’s sinister hand look even more ominous.

6. Kubrick and screenwriter Terry Southern reportedly worked on a sequel to Dr. Strangelove called Son of Strangelove. Kubrick and Southern had wanted Monty Python writer Terry Gilliam to direct the sequel, which documents revealed was going to follow Strangelove’s life in underground bunkers surrounded with female companions.

Watch the Dr. Strangelove “War Room” scene: