Fail-Safe (1964)

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Walter Bernstein (screenplay)
Eugene Burdick (novel) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 October 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It will have you sitting on the brink of eternity!

Plot:

American planes are sent to deliver a nuclear attack on Moscow, but it's a mistake due to an electrical malfunction. Can all-out war be averted?

Plot Keywords:

Bomber | General | Strategic Air Command | Colonel | Control

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Dan O'Herlihy	...	General Black
Walter Matthau	...	Groeteschele
Frank Overton	...	General Bogan
Edward Binns	...	Colonel Grady
Fritz Weaver	...	Colonel Cascio
Henry Fonda	...	The President
Larry Hagman	...	Buck
William Hansen	...	Secretary Swenson
Russell Hardie	...	General Stark
Russell Collins	...	Knapp
Sorrell Booke	...	Congressman Raskob
Nancy Berg	...	Ilsa Wolfe
John Connell	...	Thomas
Frank Simpson	...	Sullivan
Hildy Parks	...	Betty Black
Janet Ward	...	Mrs. Grady
Dom DeLuise	...	Sgt. Collins
Dana Elcar	...	Foster
Stewart Germain	...	Mr. Cascio
Louise Larabee	...	Mrs. Cascio
Frieda Altman	...	Jennie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Geri Miller	...	Go-go Dancer (uncredited)
Charles Tyner	...	Jet fighter pilot (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Sidney Lumet

Writing credits
Walter Bernstein		(screenplay)
Eugene Burdick		(novel) &
Harvey Wheeler		(novel)
Peter George		uncredited

Produced by
Charles H. Maguire	....	associate producer
Max E. Youngstein	....	producer

Cinematography by
Gerald Hirschfeld

Film Editing by
Ralph Rosenblum

Art Direction by
Albert Brenner

Set Decoration by
J.C. Delaney		(as J.C. DeLaney)

Costume Design by
Anna Hill Johnstone

Makeup Department
Harry Buchman	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Falk	....	assistant director (as Harry Falk Jr.)

Sound Department
Jack Fitzstephens	....	sound editor
William Swift	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard Fortune	....	chief electrician
Edward Knott	....	chief grip
Albert Taffet	....	camera operator (as Al Taffett)

Other crew
Marguerite James	....	continuity
Eugene Burdick	....	script consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia Films (1964) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1965) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Columbia-Bavaria Filmgesellschaft m.b.H. (1964) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (200?) (Brazil) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (video)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2007) (Finland) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Storyboard Inc.

Other Companies

• F. Hillsberg  titles

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | UK:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The film has no music - either score or source music - whatsoever.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the beginning of the meeting in the War Room at the Pentagon, while everyone is milling around and providing "small talk", General Stark mistakenly calls General Black "Whitey", when his actual nickname is "Blackie".

Quotes:

Gen. Bogan: Sergeant Collins! On the double!
[Collins races to General Bogan at the main communication board of SAC headquarters]
Gen. Bogan: You're backup man on fire control, aren't you?
TSgt. Collins: Yes sir.
Gen. Bogan: Do our Vindicator missiles have both infrared and radar-seeking capacity?
TSgt. Collins: [tentatively] Yes sir.
Gen. Bogan: [grabbing Collins forcefully toward the radio mike] Loud and clear! They've got to know we're on the level!
TSgt. Collins: [fearfully] It has both capacities, sir!
Marshall Nevsky: [Over the radio] Can the radar-seeking mechanism be overloaded by increasing the strength of the signal?
Gen. Bogan: Tell him!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Mondo cane (1962)

A first-rate movie

FAIL-SAFE suffers from something of a confusing opening ten minutes, introducing too many characters too quickly; however, if you can overcome this weak start I can assure you that you will be amply rewarded.

OK, this movie does contain flaws, as mentioned by other reviewers: the stock footage is weak, but it occupies about 20 seconds of screen time, and most viewers don't know – or care – whether they are looking at a F-104, a B-58 or a UB40 – it's not important to the plot, and the quality of footage is hardly surprising considering the lack of co-operation the makers received from the US defence department (and isn't such lack of co-operation nearly always good reason to view the movie in question?); it's true that the US president wouldn't be isolated with just a translator for assistance, but this works as a powerful dramatic device, highlighting the pressures and isolation of the man who must make the decisions that will affect the future of all mankind, and who, despite all his advisors, must bear sole responsibility for making that ultimate decision; also, Walter Matthau appears miscast as the hawk-like ‘political scientist' with a chillingly ruthless streak only because he is now better known as a comedian, whereas in 1964 he was more of a dramatic actor.

All these flaws pale into insignificance, however, in the face of Sidney Lumet's assured direction. Lumet creates an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia, with the majority of scenes taking place in either small, windowless and sparsely furnished rooms, dark control centres dominated by the screen upon which the drama in the sky is unfolding, and aboard a small, cluttered bomber. Not one single note of music is heard throughout the entire movie. The conversations between the president of the United States and the Soviet premier are tense and believable, an effect achieved largely through the use of Larry Hagman as an interpreter rather than having the two men speak to each other directly. As time passes, and the stakes grow higher, the tension is cranked up to unbearable heights until Henry Fonda, the US President, is forced to make a horrific decision in order to assuage Soviet suspicions. (If you don't know what that decision is don't read any of the reviews below: it's given away on a number of occasions).

The movie is also packed with numerous memorable scenes: the opening bullfight; the US control room staff cheering spontaneously when one of their own planes is destroyed by a Soviet fighter plane; the poignant conversation between General Bogan and his Soviet counterpart as they realise all is lost; Matthau's clinical recommendation that, in the event of a nuclear strike, search efforts should be focused on retrieving corporation records instead of recovering the dead and dying; the superb climax that captures perfectly the sudden senseless obliteration of a city and it's people, and irrefutably proves that multi-million dollar special effects aren't required to make a powerful, deeply affecting, impact on the viewer.