The first test screening of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb was to have taken place on Nov. 22, 1963 but the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on that date pushed back the official release of the film to Jan.
29, 1964.
"One line by Slim Pickens: "a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff" - was dubbed to change "Dallas" to "Vegas," since Dallas was the city where Kennedy was killed. The original reference to Dallas survives in the French-subtitled version of the film.
The assassination also serves as another possible reason why the pie-fight scene was cut. In the scene, after Muffley takes a pie in the face, General Turgidson exclaims: "Gentlemen! Our gallant young president has been struck down in his prime!" Editor Anthony Harvey stated that (the scene) would have stayed, except that Columbia Pictures were horrified, and thought it would offend the president's family."
