The first. The great grandaddy of all things manautotentatic, and still one of the best. The right hand of the good doctor remains, to this day, one of the most enegmatic hands in the business. While obviously antagonistic, it's origins are unexplained and unknown. Is it a demon? a malfuntioning cybernetic attachment? or was it a posessed glove? I certainly don't know, and am inclined to doubt that even Strangelove himself could say for sure.

The Cold War is in full swing, an on lonely Burpleson Air Force base, Brigadier General Jack Ripper (Sterling Hayden) declares that Russia has attacked, and sends a message to his planes that they are to retaliate, with extreme prejuduce (which is to say, mighty ka-boomery). Unfourtunately, Ripper is simultaniously drunk, crazy, and wrong. It's up to Group Captain Lional Mandrake (Peter Sellers) to get the code neccesary to stop these troops to President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers), and the rest of the war cabinet, including the titular ex-Nazi science adviser, Doctor Strangelove (Peter Sellers) before the B-52 flown by Majo T.J. Kong (Peter Sellers Slim Pickens) can illustrate said ka-boomery.

The film is witty and relatively fast-pased, jumping from the base to the war room to the plane en route to Russa (inexplicibly without Peter Sellers, though it is navigated by a young James Earl Jones), yet never feels rushed or confusing. The actors do a great job, with the most notable being the ubiquitous Mr. Sellers. His work with his own hand is fabulous, if minimal. Yes, this is one of the least manautotentatic movies on this site, as Dr. Strangelove's hand only punches him once, and tries to embarrass him twice (by attempting giving the president a zieg heil), but it was handled with enough penache, sheer style, to spawn a genre, that I can't help but love it. Strangelove is obviously not unfamiliar with his unhelpful appendage, he gives off a weak smile and phony chuckle to the crowd in the war room everytime it turns awry, like one would with a misbehaving pet. It's like a bad rash, something you deal with and hope goes away.

Rating: Even with scarcely existant attacks, the movie was top notch, and the hand was a true gem. Thumb!