 1st edition, originally titledTwo Hours to Doom | |
| Author | Peter Bryant (pseudonym ofPeter George) |
|---|---|
| Original title | Two Hours to Doom |
| Publisher | T. V. Boardman |
Publication date | 1958 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 192 pp (first edition) |
| OCLC | 50737632 |
Red Alert is a 1958 novel byPeter George aboutnuclear war. The book provided the underlying narrative structure forStanley Kubrick's 1964 filmDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.[1][2] Kubrick's film differs significantly from the novel in that the film is ablack comedy.
Originally published in the UK asTwo Hours to Doom, with George using the pseudonym "Peter Bryant" (Bryan Peters for the French translation,120 minutes pour sauver le monde), the novel deals with the apocalyptic threat of nuclear war and the almost absurd ease with which it can be triggered. A genre of such topical fiction, of whichRed Alert was among the earliest examples, sprang up in the late 1950s led byNevil Shute'sOn the Beach.[citation needed]
Eugene Burdick andHarvey Wheeler's later best-seller,Fail-Safe, so closely resembledRed Alert in its premise that George sued on the charge ofcopyright infringement, resulting in an out-of-court settlement. Both novels would go on to inspire very different films that would both be released in 1964 by the same studio (Columbia Pictures):Stanley Kubrick'sDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb andSidney Lumet'sFail Safe.
In aparanoid delusion, moribundU.S. Air Force general Quinten unilaterally launches an airbornepreventive nuclear attack upon theSoviet Union from his command at theSonora, Texas,Strategic Air Command (SAC) bomber base by ordering the 843rd Bomb Wing to attack using "Wing Attack Plan R", an operational plan which authorises a lower-echelon SAC commander to retaliate after an enemyfirst strike hasdecapitated the U.S. government. He attacks with the entireB-52bomber wing of new aircraft, each armed with twonuclear weapons and protected withelectronic countermeasures to prevent the Soviets from shooting them down.
When the U.S. President and cabinet become aware the attack is underway, they assist the Soviet government in intercepting the rogue U.S. Air Force bombers, to little effect, because the Soviets destroy only two bombers and damage one, theAlabama Angel, which remains airborne and en route to its target.
The U.S. government reestablishes the SAC airbasechain of command, but the general who launched the attack, the only man knowing the recall code, kills himself before capture and interrogation. His executive officer correctly deduces the recall code from among the general's desk pad doodles. The code is received by the surviving bomber aircraft, and they are successfully recalled, minutes before bombing their targets in the Soviet Union, save for theAlabama Angel, whose earlier-damaged radio prevents its recalling; it progresses to its target.
In a last effort to avert a Soviet–American nuclear war, the U.S. President offers the Soviet Premier the compensatory right to destroyAtlantic City, New Jersey; at the final moment, theAlabama Angel is shot down, and nuclear catastrophe is averted.
Red Alert author George collaborated on theDr. Strangelove screenplay with Kubrick and satiristTerry Southern.Red Alert was more solemn than its film version and it did not include the character Dr. Strangelove, though the main plot and technical elements were quite similar. Anovelisation of the actual film, rather than a reprint of the original novel, was published by George, based on an early draft in which aliens try to understand what happened after arriving at a wrecked Earth.
During the filming ofDr. Strangelove, Kubrick learned thatFail Safe, a film with a similar theme, was being produced. AlthoughFail Safe was to be a realistic thriller, Kubrick feared that its plot resemblance would damage his film's box office potential, especially ifFail Safe were released first. Indeed, the novelFail-Safe (on which the film is based) is so similar toRed Alert that Kubrick and Peter George sued on charges ofcopyright infringement.[3] The case was settled out of court.[4] What worried Kubrick most was thatFail Safe boasted acclaimed directorSidney Lumet and first-rate dramatic actorsHenry Fonda as the American President andWalter Matthau as the advisor to thePentagon, Professor Groeteschele. Kubrick decided to throw a legal wrench intoFail Safe's production gears. Lumet recalled in the documentaryInside the Making of Dr. Strangelove: "We started casting. Fonda was already set.... which of course meant a big commitment in terms of money. I was set, Walter [Bernstein, the screenwriter] was set.... And suddenly, this lawsuit arrived, filed by Stanley Kubrick and Columbia Pictures."[citation needed]
Kubrick argued thatFail Safe's own 1962 source novel,Fail-Safe, had been copied fromRed Alert, to which Kubrick owned creative rights. He pointed out unmistakable similarities in intentions between the characters Groeteschele and Strangelove (although there is not a Strangelove character in the novel). The plan worked, and the suit was settled out of court, with the agreement thatColumbia Pictures, which had financed and was distributingStrangelove, also buyFail Safe, which had been an independently financed production.[5] Kubrick insisted that the studio release his movie first,[6] andFail Safe opened eight months behindDr. Strangelove, to critical acclaim but mediocre ticket sales.[citation needed]
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