Fail Safe - Special Edition [Import USA Zone 1]

 

 

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Columbia Pictures presents "FAIL-SAFE" (1964) ~ (112 min/B&W) ~ Starring: Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Edward Binns, Larry Hagman & Fritz Weaver

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Fail-Safe tells of what happens when a misguided transmission sends a squadron of bombers hurtling towards Russia, fully prepared to drop their atomic weaponry on Moscow. Air Force commander Frank Overton desperately tries to establish radio contact with the bombers, but once the pilots have passed the "fail safe" point, they've been instructed to disregard any reversal of orders. Racing against time, US President Henry Fonda, through his interpreter (Larry Hagman), informs the Russian premiere of the impending nuclear disaster. Working in concert with SAC, the Russians send up interceptors to shoot down the American bombers, while some of the planes run out of fuel and crash. Unfortunately, one aircraft, piloted by Edward Binns, manages to escape destruction and continues on its fatal mission.

Special footnote: ~ Columbia Pictures produced both this movie and 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'. Director Stanley Kubrick insisted his movie be released first, and it was, in January 1964. When Fail-Safe was released, it garnered excellent reviews, but audiences found it unintentionally funny because of "Strangelove", and stayed away. Henry Fonda later said he would never have made this movie if he had seen "Strangelove" first, because he would have laughed too.

** The film has no music - either score or source music - whatsoever --- Some reference works (eg Colonna Sonora) credit Hal Schaefer as composer of the music score. In fact, the Columbia record division did issue his five minute Fail Safe suite on a 7-inch disc in 1964 (Colpix Records CP 751) with the film promoted on the actual label: FAIL SAFE - A Columbia Pictures Release. Schaefer's music, performed by the Hal Schaefer Quintet, was a somewhat nervous and dissonant jazz work, fairly appropriate to the film's content. However, director Lumet decided to release the film with no background score, so Schaefer's music only exists on the promotional disc.

BIOS:
1. Sidney Lumet (Director)
Date of Birth: 25 June 1924 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 9 April 2011 - Manhattan, New York City, New York

2. Henry Fonda [aka: Henry Jaynes Fonda]
Date of Birth: 16 May 1905 - Grand Island, Nebraska
Date of Death: 12 August 1982 - Los Angeles, California

3. Dan O'Herlihy
Date of Birth: 1 May 1919 - Wexford, Ireland
Date of Death: 17 February 2005 - Malibu, California

4. Walter Matthau
Date of Birth: 1 October 1920 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 1 July 2000 - Santa Monica, California

5. Frank Overton
Date of Birth: 12 March 1918 - Babylon, New York
Date of Death: 24 April 1967 - Pacific Palisades, California

6. Edward Binns
Date of Birth: 12 September 1916 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 4 December 1990 - Brewster, New York

7. Larry Hagman
Date of Birth: 21 September 1931 - Fort Worth, Texas
Date of Death: Unknown

8. Fritz Weaver
Date of Birth: 19 January 1926 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: Unknown

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 112 min on DVD ~ Columbia Pictures ~ (October 31, 2000)

We are at the height of the cold war. We use assured mutual destruction to keep the commies at bay. The main defense is the use of strategic bombers to deliver nuclear weapons. In the event of a perceived thereat we send the bombers to points called Fail-Safe. From there if the thereat is determined to be real the president gives the go signal in a coded message. At a further point there is no recall.

What if the recall signal was jammed?

We are now faced with many questions that move from the theoretical.
Is it a trick?
Will the Ruskies believe it is an accident?
Should we take the first strike initiative?
Is mutual destruction assured?

In today's world it is easy and common place to imagine some artificial intelligence that we have ceded authority to taking over for malevolent or even levolent purposes. We have every type of movie from "2001" (1968) with the HAL 9000 to "The Forbin project" (1970) with Colossus.

This film however is a lot spookier because it is played out with what looks like could be a real scenario. It also looks like it could have been a play as the action is mostly dialog that takes place in two rooms and the interior of a strategic bomber. It has a claustrophobic feel with the black and white with odd placed lighting.

There are many fine actors in this film. One surprisingly strong performance was by Larry Hagman as Buck the interpreter for the President. The survival of the world hinged on his facial expressions as he had to interpret not just the words but the attitude of the Soviet Premier.

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