The plot of "Doctor Strangelove" appears to have been stolen from the novel Red Alert; I believe there was some litigation over the matter. The novel's version is a better story; the airforce officer responsible for the attack is a sympathetic character, taking a difficult choice for carefully considered reasons--of course, he doesn't know about the soomsday machine--and willing to pay with his own life by killing himself after ordering the attack in order to make sure he cannot be forced to recall the planes.