Focus Features

George C. Scott sits at the war room table
in Dr. Strangelove

In almost 50 years of filmmaking, Stanley Kubrick made only 13 films (if you count Fear and Desire, which he himself called “amateurish”). His work divided people, but no one could deny that his films were driven by the highest of ambitions and were as singular as the man himself. When he died suddenly just after completing Eyes Wide Shut, there was a sense that we were not likely to see his like again.

One of the most startling of his films was Dr Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Below, Ken Adam - recognized as one of the greatest production designers  - describes to Christopher Frayling how he designed the monumental War Room for that film – a set that Steven Spielberg once called the best set in the history of film.

Ken Adam: “Stanley came into my little office and was standing behind me while I was doodling some shapes. Whether I was influenced by German Expressionism or not, I don't know, but out of my scribbles came this leaning triangular shape with slanting walls. Stanley stopped me and said, 'Hold on, isn't the triangle the strongest geometric form?' I said, 'I think so, yes.' He said, 'If we were going ahead with it, what would you build it out of?' I suggested reinforced concrete, and he said, 'Like a gigantic bomb shelter?' So that's how the idea was born. And you know that I always had this thing about having a circle somewhere. So I designed the circular table.”

Christopher Frayling: “Just like the circular 'tarantula' grille you designed for Dr. No. Sloping walls – with no central perspective – and a circle somewhere in the middle. Very unnerving.”

Ken Adam: “Yes, it was an extension of that. You'll find a circle in all my designs somewhere. It was Stanley's idea that the War Room would be like a poker game and he was fascinated by the light ring. He thought we could light the whole scene with that light ring. We had phoney light sources and beams from one wall, and maybe a little fill-light here and there. But the main light source was the ring.”

Kubrick during the filming of Dr. Strangelove

Christopher Frayling: “What's very clever about the War Room is that it's a cavernous space, but the light ring makes it feel claustrophobic; it pushes the ceiling down and you feel cramped.”

Ken Adam: “Yes. It's funny you should mention that. As I was constructing the set it was my idea to come up with this shiny black floor and these gigantic inclined maps. And I was feeling claustrophobic too! Which was the right element, because the actors felt that strange atmosphere. That's why I think it was my most successful set, because everyone became part of the set.”

Christopher Frayling: “Tell me about the ending of the film.”

Ken Adam: “Well, the ending in the script was a gigantic custard pie fight, which we filmed for well over a week. I had organized over 3000 custard pies to be used and it was the most fantastic pie fight that had even been filmed. The actors all got into it. George C. Scott was swinging from the gigantic light ring and the whole War Room was covered in pies. It ended with the Russian Ambassador and the American President sitting on the floor and building sandcastles out of the pies like children.

“Then Stanley decided not to use it because of the Kennedy assassination. So he cut it out. We all ganged up on him; everyone said he must keep it in. Stanley absolutely insisted that he should lose it. About 3 years ago a man came to interview me about Stanley because he was writing a book about him. He said if I liked - because nobody ever saw the pie fight again – we could go into the vaults of the British Film Institute and watch it. So we did. And we both came out knowing why he didn't want to use it, because stylistically - Stanley had used effects like slow-motion – it didn't suit the picture.”

Extract taken from Ken Adam: The Art of Production Design by Christopher Frayling (Faber & Faber, 2005).

Essential Viewing: The Killing [Buy], Paths of Glory [Buy], Spartacus [Buy], Dr. Strangelove [Buy], 2001: A Space Odyssey [Buy], Barry Lyndon [Buy], The Shining [Buy].

George C. Scott sits at the war room table
in Dr. Strangelove

In almost 50 years of filmmaking, Stanley Kubrick made only 13 films (if you count Fear and Desire, which he himself called “amateurish”). His work divided people, but no one could deny that his films were driven by the highest of ambitions and were as singular as the man himself. When he died suddenly just after completing Eyes Wide Shut, there was a sense that we were not likely to see his like again.

One of the most startling of his films was Dr Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Below, Ken Adam - recognized as one of the greatest production designers  - describes to Christopher Frayling how he designed the monumental War Room for that film – a set that Steven Spielberg once called the best set in the history of film.

Ken Adam: “Stanley came into my little office and was standing behind me while I was doodling some shapes. Whether I was influenced by German Expressionism or not, I don't know, but out of my scribbles came this leaning triangular shape with slanting walls. Stanley stopped me and said, 'Hold on, isn't the triangle the strongest geometric form?' I said, 'I think so, yes.' He said, 'If we were going ahead with it, what would you build it out of?' I suggested reinforced concrete, and he said, 'Like a gigantic bomb shelter?' So that's how the idea was born. And you know that I always had this thing about having a circle somewhere. So I designed the circular table.”

Christopher Frayling: “Just like the circular 'tarantula' grille you designed for Dr. No. Sloping walls – with no central perspective – and a circle somewhere in the middle. Very unnerving.”

Ken Adam: “Yes, it was an extension of that. You'll find a circle in all my designs somewhere. It was Stanley's idea that the War Room would be like a poker game and he was fascinated by the light ring. He thought we could light the whole scene with that light ring. We had phoney light sources and beams from one wall, and maybe a little fill-light here and there. But the main light source was the ring.”

Kubrick during the filming of Dr. Strangelove

Christopher Frayling: “What's very clever about the War Room is that it's a cavernous space, but the light ring makes it feel claustrophobic; it pushes the ceiling down and you feel cramped.”

Ken Adam: “Yes. It's funny you should mention that. As I was constructing the set it was my idea to come up with this shiny black floor and these gigantic inclined maps. And I was feeling claustrophobic too! Which was the right element, because the actors felt that strange atmosphere. That's why I think it was my most successful set, because everyone became part of the set.”

Christopher Frayling: “Tell me about the ending of the film.”

Ken Adam: “Well, the ending in the script was a gigantic custard pie fight, which we filmed for well over a week. I had organized over 3000 custard pies to be used and it was the most fantastic pie fight that had even been filmed. The actors all got into it. George C. Scott was swinging from the gigantic light ring and the whole War Room was covered in pies. It ended with the Russian Ambassador and the American President sitting on the floor and building sandcastles out of the pies like children.

“Then Stanley decided not to use it because of the Kennedy assassination. So he cut it out. We all ganged up on him; everyone said he must keep it in. Stanley absolutely insisted that he should lose it. About 3 years ago a man came to interview me about Stanley because he was writing a book about him. He said if I liked - because nobody ever saw the pie fight again – we could go into the vaults of the British Film Institute and watch it. So we did. And we both came out knowing why he didn't want to use it, because stylistically - Stanley had used effects like slow-motion – it didn't suit the picture.”

Extract taken from Ken Adam: The Art of Production Design by Christopher Frayling (Faber & Faber, 2005).

Essential Viewing: The Killing [Buy], Paths of Glory [Buy], Spartacus [Buy], Dr. Strangelove [Buy], 2001: A Space Odyssey [Buy], Barry Lyndon [Buy], The Shining [Buy].