Dr. Strangelove or: How well will you do on a quiz about the movie?

By: J. Reinoehl
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
Dr. Strangelove or: How well will you do on a quiz about the movie?
Image: The Movie DB

About This Quiz

Stanley Kubrick was originally going to make "Dr. Strangelove" as a serious film but changed his mind after writing it. Ultimately, he created the black comedy as we know it today. How well do you remember "Dr. Strangelove"? Find out by taking the quiz below.
What did General Ripper command Group Captain Mandrake to impound when the base first went on red alert?
Telephones.
Radios.
"Now last and possibly most important, I want all privately owned radios to be immediately impounded… They might be used to issue instructions to saboteurs."
Passports.
Weapons.

Advertisement

What kind of planes did Air Command have in the air twenty-four hours a day?
The F-4 Phantom II.
The KC-130 Hercules.
The B-52 Stratofortress.
The B-52 was built by Boeing and had its first flight April 15, 1952. It continues to be a military staple and is expected to serve the Air Force until at least 2040.
The F9F Panther.

Advertisement

What was the letter of the plan the air crew were commanded to activate?
Plan Q.
Plan R.
"Major Kong, I know you'll think this is crazy, but I just got a message from base over the CRM 114. It decodes as wing attack Plan R. R for Romeo."
Plan S.
Plan Z.

Advertisement

Slim Pickens portrayed which character?
Lt. Dietrich.
General Ripper.
Colonel "Bat" Guano.
Major "King" Kong.
Louis Burton Lindley, Jr., better known as Slim Pickens (June 29, 1919-December 8, 1983), spent almost twenty years in the rodeo before turning to acting. He acted mostly in Westerns and would frequently ride his own horses and mules in them.

Advertisement

How many rules did General Ripper give the base?
1.
3.
"Now, I am going to give you three simple rules: First, trust no one, whatever his uniform or rank, unless he is known to you personally. Second, anyone or anything that approaches within 200 yards of the perimeter is to be fired upon. Third, if in doubt, shoot first and ask questions afterward."
5.
10.

Advertisement

What was the motto seen on posters around General Ripper's base?
No nukes is good nukes.
We do war.
Duck and cover.
Peace is our profession.
"Peace is our profession" was the motto of the Strategic Air Command. Although created before the U. S. Air Force, it was the nuclear capable section of the Air Force and existed throughout the Cold War.

Advertisement

Why did Group Captain Mandrake doubt the Russians were attacking?
He didn't hear any bombs going off in the distance.
The Pentagon had not called to confirm orders.
Civilian radio was still broadcasting.
"If you'll excuse me for saying so, that would be from my way of thinking rather, a rather odd way of looking at it. You see if a Russian attack was in progress, we would certainly not be hearing civilian broadcasting."
He didn't see any warning transmissions on the computer.

Advertisement

What did Major Kong remove from the airplane safe after getting the command to start nuclear warfare?
A red button.
A codebook.
A red phone.
A cowboy hat.
Major Kong retrieved his cowboy hat from the safe. The inside of the B-52 was recreated from a single photo in a British magazine. It was done so nicely, some people worried they would get in trouble for making an accurate representation.

Advertisement

What kind of mixed drink did General Ripper want?
A White Russian.
Alcohol and rainwater.
"Now, why don't you just take it easy Group Captain, and please make me a drink of grain alcohol and rainwater. And help yourself to whatever you'd like."
Chardonnay.
Cognac, syrup, lemon and sparkling wine.

Advertisement

What was the recall code?
OPE.
OPE was a variation of the acronym for Peace on Earth or Purity of Essence.
LLL.
JAK.
RIP.

Advertisement

What option did General Turgidson want the President to pursue?
Launch a full attack.
"… If on the other hand, we immediately launch an all-out and coordinated attack on all their airfields and missile bases we'd stand a… good chance of catching them with their pants down… We've got five-to-one missile superiority as it is."
Send planes to catch the attacking ones and stop them.
Do nothing.
Call Russia and tell them what is happening.

Advertisement

Who was the only person with the authority to declare nuclear war?
The Russian Ambassador.
General Ripper.
General Turgidson.
The president.
At the time of the movie, the United States did have several policies in place that would have allowed a general or military personnel to detonate a nuclear bomb if the president could not be reached for approval. In fact, some nuclear weapons were guarded by foreign military and could have just as easily been activated by them, with or without consent.

Advertisement

Finish the quote: "Gentlemen, you can't fight here! _________________.
"This is the War Room."
"Gentlemen, you can't fight here! This is the War Room."
"We are striving for world peace."
"You have to fight over there."
"No one has issued a formal declaration of war, yet."

Advertisement

What was the name of the Russian Premier?
Premier Ubee Stallin.
Premier Alexei Greaser.
Premier Dimitri Kissoff
Premier Dimitri Kissoff was the head of the Soviet Union in the movie. Nikita Khrushchev was the Russian Premier up until 1964 when the movie was released. Khrushchev was responsible for removing missiles from Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis, in exchange for the Americans removing theirs from Turkey.
Premier Nikolai Coolit.

Advertisement

What unusual items were in the survival kits?
Wasp spray and unrolled tobacco.
Nylons and lipsticks.
"Survival kit contents check: In them, you will find… three lipsticks and three pair of nylon stockings. Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff."
Dental floss and duct tape.
Vaseline and shoelaces.

Advertisement

The cigars that were offered to the Russian ambassador were from what country?
Spain.
Jamaica.
When Cuban cigars were embargoed, some of the Cuban farmers moved to Jamaica with their seeds. As a British colony, Jamaica could easily export cigars to the United States.
Italy.
Mexico.

Advertisement

At what distance were the troops inside the base supposed to open fire?
50 yards.
100 yards.
200 yards.
"You sure got to hand it to Commies… Okay, open up at 200 yards."
400 yards.

Advertisement

Why did General Ripper only drink rainwater, distilled water and pure grain alcohol?
Fluoridation.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the first city to adjust its fluoride content to 1.0 ppm, in 1945. Although some at the time were against this, today there are concerns about it causing cancer as opposed to being a Communist plot. Since no evidence has been found of an association between fluoridation and cancer, adding fluoride to water is considered one of the most important 20th-century health advancements.
Radiation.
Microscopic germs.
Arsenic.

Advertisement

Why did the Russians develop a doomsday device?
They wanted peace.
They accidentally created it.
It was a cheap way to get ahead
"There were those of us who fought against it, but in the end, we could not keep up with the expense involved in the arms race, the space race and the peace race. At the same time, our people grumbled for more nylons and washing machines."
They wanted to destroy the world.

Advertisement

What did General Ripper keep in his golf bag?
Grenades and a grenade launcher.
A set of throwing knives.
A machine gun.
General Ripper kept a machine gun in his golf bag. Ironically, Sterling Hayden, the actor who played Ripper, was a member of the Communist Party for a brief period prior to the filming of this movie.
A flamethrower.

Advertisement

What was Dr. Stranglove's job title?
Director of the Office of Science and Technology.
Director of Weapons Research and Development.
"Under the authority granted me as Director of Weapons Research and Development, I commissioned last year a study of this project by the Bland Corporation. Base on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be obvious."
Head of the National Security Council.
Head of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control.

Advertisement

What was the half-life of Cobalt thorium G?
93 years.
Cobalt-60 can be added to fission bombs to increase the length of time that humans would need to stay in shelters. Thorium is another radioactive material, similar to uranium. Colbolt-60 has a half-life of almost six years, and thorium's half-life is in the billions of years, so it is likely the 93-year half-life cited in the movie was a fictional number.
2 years.
45 years.
17 years.

Advertisement

Who held Mandrake as a prisoner of war?
The Japanese.
"Yes, they did. I was tortured by the Japanese."
The Vietnamese.
The Germans.
The Italians.

Advertisement

Why couldn't Major Kong get a radio message?
Someone changed the radio code by accident.
The radioman took off his headset.
The plane was hit by a missile.
A missile hit damaged the radio. Major Kong was said to be based on real-life test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston, who wore cowboy boots and hats and was known for doing a barrel roll in a Boeing Dash-80 (367-80) during a demonstration flight.
Water from a spilled drink short-circuited it.

Advertisement

What was the benefit of the plane flying low?
They would be able to hit their target more accurately.
No one would see them on radar.
"… But we got one little budge on them Ruskies. At this height, why they might harpoon us, but they dang sure ain't gonna spot us on no radar screen."
Enemy planes couldn't fly that low.
It helped them conserve fuel.

Advertisement

What did General Ripper do so that they wouldn't torture him for the code?
He locked himself in the bathroom.
He took tranquilizers.
He ran away when no one was looking.
He shot himself.
He shot himself. The bomb that hit Hiroshima was 21 kilotons. The RDS-220 was the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated (50 megatons) and caused damage more than 500 miles away from ground zero.

Advertisement

What phone did Mandrake use to call the President?
A pay phone.
"Now just one second, you just said the president… wants to speak to General Ripper, doesn't he? I am General Ripper's executive officer, so the president will… want to speak to me, won't he? There's a telephone box over there, and the line may be open.
The red phone on the General's desk.
A field phone.
The regular phone on the General's desk.

Advertisement

Which character was not played by Peter Sellers?
Group Captain Lionel Mandrake.
President Merkin Muffley.
Colonel "Bat" Guano.
Peter Sellers was required to play multiple characters because of his success doing it in Lolita. Initially offered four parts, he ended up playing three: Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove.
Dr. Strangelove.

Advertisement

What was the name of the air force base where General Ripper was in charge?
Dulce Air Force Base.
Burpelson Air Force Base.
"Operator? This is Group Captain Lionel Mandrake. I'm speaking from Burpelson Air Force Base."
Darkside Air Force Base.
Zhitkur Air Force Base.

Advertisement

What was the primary target of Major Kong's plane?
Moscow.
Terminus.
Laputa.
Laputa was a floating island in "Gulliver's Travels," by Jonathan Swift, which contained citizens who had a great deal of scientific knowledge but no practical knowledge. Laputa is also the Spanish word for prostitute. The women of the floating city were very promiscuous.
St. Petersburg.

Advertisement

How did Mandrake get the extra money he needed for the phone call?
He borrowed it from Colonel Guano.
He found it in General Ripper's pockets.
He called collect.
He had the Colonel shoot open a Coke machine.
"Colonel… Can you imagine? Shoot it off! Shoot with a gun! That's what the bullets are for…"

Advertisement

Why did Major Kong change his target?
The new target was not surrounded by mountains.
They didn't have enough fuel to hit the primary target.
They did not have enough fuel because they were leaking fuel after the missile attack. While filming some of the flying scenes over Greenland, the crew accidentally took photos of a secret U. S. Army base. They were forced to land and explain what they were doing there.
He lost all their maps out a hole from the missile.
He saw all the enemy planes patrolling the area.

Advertisement

What malfunctioned during the final bomb run checklist?
The bomb doors failed to open.
"Uh, bomb door circuits negative function, lights red… Backup circuits switched in. Still negative function."
The bomb fuse failed to turn on.
The second safety failed to release.
The bomb failed to arm.

Advertisement

What happened to Major Kong?
He parachuted out of the plane.
He rode the bomb down to its target.
Sellers was originally going to play Kong, but he first had trouble with the Texan accent. When he broke his ankle and could no longer navigate the tight cockpit set, a different actor was cast for the role.
He died by going down with the plane when it ran out of fuel.
He received a service medal.

Advertisement

Where did Dr. Strangelove say they should hide?
Deep in a mountain.
In the war room.
5,000 miles away from the detonation site (ground zero).
At the bottom of a mineshaft.
"Mr. President, I would not rule out the chance to preserve a nucleus of some human specimens. It would be quite easy at the bottom of some of our deeper mineshafts."

Advertisement

You Got:
/35
The Movie DB