Fail Safe (1964)

It will have you sitting on the brink of eternity!

Original Title :	Fail-Safe
Director :	Sidney Lumet
Writer :	Eugene Burdick Harvey Wheeler Walter Bernstein
Genre :	Drama
	Sci-Fi
Country :	USA
Language :	English
Producer :	Sidney Lumet , Charles H. Maguire , Max E. Youngstein
Photography :	Gerald Hirschfeld
IMDB ID :	0058083
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poster for "Fail Safe" by Sidney Lumet (1964)

Fail Safe (1964) - Sidney Lumet

Starring

Dan O'Herlihy		Brigadier General Warren A. Black
Walter Matthau		Professor Groeteschele
Frank Overton		General Bogan S.A.C. Omaha
Ed Binns		Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6
Fritz Weaver		Colonel Cascio, Bogan's Deputy
Henry Fonda		The President
Larry Hagman		Buck
William Hansen		Defense Secretary Swenson
Russell Hardie		General Stark, Pentagon
Russell Collins		Gordon Knapp, President Universal Electronics
Sorrell Booke		Congressman Raskob
Nancy Berg		Ilsa Wolfe (party
John Connell		Radioman Thomas (crew
Frank Simpson		Sullivan (crew
Hildy Parks		Betty Black
Janet Ward		Helen Grady
Dom DeLuise		Tech. Sgt. Collins
Dana Elcar		Mr. Foster (party
Stewart Germain		Lou Cascio
Louise Larabee		Mrs. Cascio
Frieda Altman		Jennie Johnson, President's Secretary rest of cast listed alphabetically
Charles Tyner		Jet Fighter Pilot (uncredited

Plot

A series of human and computer errors sends a squadron of American B-58 bombers to nuke Moscow. The President, in order to convince the Soviets that this is a mistake, orders the Strategic Air Command to help the Soviets stop them. This movie pulls no punches. The ending will make you thank God the Cold War is over!

Comments

of its time, but stands up well In my book this movie and "On the Beach" are the best film dramas having a plot basis in the nuclear tension of the Cold War. Superbly directed by Sidney Lumet, and shot appropriately in b&,w, this absolutely gripping drama moves forward with white-knuckled tension. Excellent acting all around from Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Fritz Weaver, the ever-durable Edward Binns, et. al. Watch for Dom deLuise in a surprising dramatic bit part, and Larry Hagman of all people as the translator. Matthau is perhaps miscast here. Stands up to repeated viewing, a great film.