Fun fact: Peters Sellers was supposed to play the role of the pilot, Major Kong. In an early scene he injured his leg getting into the seat in the cramped cockpit set, and Slim Pickens was cast for the role; it was a happy accident, and an inspired choice. Slim stayed in character all the time, on-screen and off.

Funner fact: The B-52 was very Top Secret in those days, and the set designers had to pretty much make it up based on the scant information available to the public. The FBI contacted Kubrick, wanting to know how he knew so much about the plane; the designers got it almost exactly right.

Fun +1: Kubrick set out to make a serious drama, but in planning the story realized it was really a hilarious black comedy.

Fun +2: The movie was supposed to end in a pie fight. The scene was filmed but cut from the final print.

Fun +3: George C. Scott tried to play his role pretty straight, but Kubrick wanted it much funner. He told Scott to practice a completely over-the-top performance just to get the feel of the part, then they’d tone it down for the actual shoot. Without Scott’s knowledge, Kubrick filmed his gonzo performance and used it in the movie; Scott was furious, and refused to ever work with Kubrick again.

Funnest (but sad) fact: While checking the survival kit contents, Maj. Kong says “Shoot, a fella’ could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff”. The original line was “... a pretty good weekend in Dallas... “, but the film was released shortly after JFK was killed in Dallas, so they dubbed in “Vegas”. If you watch Slim’s lips, you can clearly see he’s saying “Dallas”.

