James Earl Jones, who sadly passed away on September 9, had one of the most recognizable voices in cinema history. However, his movie debut came from a film where he hardly spoke at all. Before lending his voice to one of the most iconic villains in blockbuster history, Darth Vader, James Earl Jones stepped into the shoes of Lt. Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. The film is a dark comedy that follows a group of political advisors, a former Nazi Scientist, and the President of the United States (Peter Sellers, who portrayed four of the film’s characters) as they scramble to do damage control after Air Force General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) descends into paranoia, sending his bomber wing to destroy the USSR. Earl Jones’s small role as a Lieutenant tasked with carrying out a paranoid man’s mission leaves audiences both humored and horrified at the simplicity one wrong move could make in destroying the world.
‘Dr. Strangelove’ Uses Paranoia as a Driving Force
At the start of the film, Lt. Lothar Zogg and his fellow air force comrades are issued with a Wing Attack Plan R, the most severe last case scenario plan. It soon becomes apparent that the order has been issued with no approval from the government, yet, because all privately owned radios have been confiscated, there is no way to inform the airborne crew to retreat. Kubrick plays it up for laughs, with the reasoning behind General Ripper’s order being his conviction that the USSR is contaminating the “precious bodily fluids” of American citizens, a rather tongue-in-cheek conspiracy, but the horror of this reality sets in once it becomes clear that there is no turning back from this.
All the crew members can do is blindly assume that they are doing what is necessary, that things could end up worse for them if they don’t, and that the destruction they are about to unleash is for the greater good. The audience never really questions what the outcome of this could be for too long. The juxtaposition in the line “no fighting in the war room,” as humorous as it is, hints that the Cold War has gone too far in its goal of establishing a singular dominating global superpower for either side to back down.
Mutually Assured Destruction (often abbreviated as MAD), was a phrase coined by strategist Donald Brennan in 1962 to refer to a deterrent military strategy used during the Cold War. The idea being that if a country with nuclear weapons attacks another country also possessing nuclear weapons, the defending country would have no choice but to retaliate, thus destroying both countries in the process. In Dr. Strangelove, as the United States and Soviet governments meet to discuss the ramifications and damage control, the debate on how to handle the impending doom is clouded by each politician’s desire to protect their reputation and personal interests, despite claiming that their main priority is to protect the people. Meanwhile, as they struggle to come to a conclusion that doesn’t involve inevitable destruction, the air force is still dead set on their target. Earl Jones’ character doesn’t give much more than the occasional “roger” when receiving orders, but the unflinching cooperation from him and his comrades allows the films’ darker themes to grab hold of the audience. Neither side is going to back down, the lack of trust in each other only urges them to want to double down, and, as long as they can save themselves, so be it.
James Earl Jones’ Zogg may not say much, but his role is pivotal to the story unfolding, as Zogg and the other air force members are about to go through with a paranoid man’s unprompted orders to drop a bomb on the Soviet Union. Their time on screen is limited, as is their control over the situation — but it doesn’t make their screen time any less impactful. Zogg and his comrades never get much backstory, but they simply don’t need to. They express themselves physically and verbally communicate their understanding in simple terms, but there are fleeting glances shared between them where the confusion and panic of the situation really begins to set in. Their purpose is ultimately as cogs of a machine far bigger than themselves.
Dr. Strangelove would go on to become one of the most highly regarded movies ever made and James Earl Jones would become one of the most talented and beloved actors of his generation. While he eventually became known for his roles in Star Wars, The Lion King, and Coming to America, it is interesting to remember that his iconic movie career began in Kubrick’s all-time classic.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb is currently available to buy or rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
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