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Fail Safe (1964)
A Riveting - And Still Very Relevant - Cautionary Tale
Like his big-screen debut, "12 Angry Men" (1957), Sidney Lumet's "Fail-Safe" continues to speak volumes today, nearly a half-century after its release.
As in 1957, Lumet's use of relatively spartan sets and modest effects work to this film's advantage (as does the total absence of music); combined with Gerald Hirschfeld's stark B & W cinematography and dramatic camera work - and Ralph Rosenblum's adroit editing - the often claustrophobic tension is synergistically heightened. Minor technical flaws (as in the brief stock footage) can be overlooked, as they do not compromise the storyline.
Lumet employed two fine actors from his 1957 film, Henry Fonda & Edward Binns, in a superb ensemble cast.
Fonda's portrayal is the very model for what many expect an American president to be; his distinctive voice, mannerisms and cool decisive nature define the character.
Dan O'Herlihey imbues Gen. Black with the knowing resignation of one trapped in a dilemma with no solution, who must play out his part to the inevitable conclusion.
Successful on stage & television, this was Fritz Weaver's big-screen debut. He lends great pathos to his portrayal of Col. Cascio; inner demons are kept bottled-up until the breaking point - when they erupt at a critical moment of the crisis.
Known best for comedy, Walter Matthau proves his dramatic abilities as Prof. Groeteschele, loosely based on Herman Kahn, a founder of the New York Hudson Institute (with a sprinkling of Edward Teller thrown in). (After obtaining a M. Sc. degree from Caltech, Kahn was recruited by the RAND Corporation. It was there that he published his seminal treatise, "On Thermonuclear War" (giving a nod to "On War," by Carl von Clausewitz). This was the genesis of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction ('MAD').)
Giving perhaps the finest performance of his too-short career, Frank Overton as Gen. Bogan instills in his character wisdom, humanity and quiet dignity (as in the role of Sheriff Heck Tate in "To Kill A Mockingbird," 1962). Rather than an autocratic or callous commanding officer, Bogan displays understanding and compassion.
In a late scene, realizing his mistake and that it means the No. 1 plane carrying the bombs will almost certainly reach its target of Moscow, Marshall Nevsky, with whom General Bogan has been speaking over their "hot line," collapses and is replaced by General Koniev.
After a brief exchange with Koniev about a last-chance possibility of stopping the plane, Bogan says, "You speak English very well, General."
Koniev: "I was liaison to your headquarters in London, during the war."
Bogan: "I was stationed right outside of London."
Koniev: "Yes, I know; at the Eighth Air Force."
Bogan: "Did you like London?"
Koniev: "Very much."
Bogan: "So did I."
Koniev: "The great cities are those where one can walk; I would walk all the time in London. Wherever you turn, there's history."
General Bogan is handed a SAC dossier on General Koniev and leafs through it; seeing Koniev's photograph he asks, "General, are you in Moscow now?"
Koniev: "No; I was ordered to leave."
Finding a photograph of the general with his wife and children, Bogan starts to ask whether his family is safe - but stops himself before any words are spoken, instead saying simply, "It's a hard day."
Koniev: "Yes, a hard day." (Pause) "Goodbye, my friend."
"Goodbye MY friend," replies Bogan with the resignation and sorrowfulness of one bidding farewell to a lifelong friend.
More even than an object lesson in how adults handle a crisis of cataclysmic proportion, "Fail-Safe" is a still-relevant cautionary tale about misplaced faith in sophisticated technology and the possible ramifications therefrom (as in "Colossus - The Forbin Project," 1970), perfectly enunciated in this exchange:
KNAPP: "The more complex an electronic system gets, the more accident-prone it is. Sooner or later, it breaks down... A transistor blows, a condenser burns out. Sometimes they just get tired, like people..."
GROETESCHELE: "But Mr. Knapp overlooks one thing. The machines are supervised by humans. Even if the machine fails, the human being can always correct the mistake."
KNAPP: "I wish you were right. The fact is the machines work so fast, they are so intricate, the mistakes they make are so subtle that very often a human being can't know if a machine is lying or telling the truth."
Of course, the obvious comparison will be made to Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964), based on the novel "Red Alert," by Peter George (originally published in the UK as "Two Hours to Doom" under the pseudonym of Peter Bryant). It was not a comedy (nor was it nearly as well-written as the Burdick-Wheeler novel); Kubrick and George turned it into the black comedy classic it became.
With Kubrick having substantially more clout than Lumet at that time, George suing Burdick and Wheeler for plagiarism and Columbia Pictures releasing both films, though "Fail-Safe" was 'in the can' first, it was held back - and the movie-going public got to yuck-it-up over the prospect of thermonuclear annihilation. After all, Stanley Kramer's stunning film "On the Beach" (1959) had not yet faded from the public's mind, the Cold War had recently heated to a boil with the Cuban Missile Crisis - and President Kennedy had just been assassinated. People needed to laugh, if even at a black comedy. In large part as a result, "Fail-Safe" was not a box-office success; posterity has treated it quite differently.
Niels Bohr's famous quip, "There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them," notwithstanding, an earnest discussion on trying to avert the total annihilation of the planet is deadly serious - and on every level, "Fail-Safe" remains an outstanding, riveting and truly harrowing film, all too relevant even today - for there is no highly-complex technology that is truly "Fail-Safe."
Unknown World (1951)
"Journey to the Center of the Earth" meets "The Core"
Well, to be fair, in 1951, there was still a great deal of conjecture about the Earth's inner structure; not only was the theory of "plate tectonics" completely unknown (it's no longer considered a theory), that the core was a viscous super-heated liquid with a solid center (outer core and inner core) was merely a conjecture (today it too is considered fact). This picture strikes me as a sort of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959) meets "The Core" (2003), with perhaps a little more emphasis on the latter.
What was surprising was to see that the credit for music went to Ernest Gold (who appears to have scored a number of forgettable pictures earlier in his career). Gold would go on to score "The Young Philadelphians " (1959), "On the Beach" (1959), "Inherit the Wind" (1960), "Exodus" (1960) and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963); he won an Oscar for the score to "Exodus." Words were added in 1961 by Pat Boone(!) as "This Land Is Mine." Various versions charted in 1961, including by the piano duo Ferrante & Teicher and Montavani. It still can be heard today on radio stations that program older popular music.
Billy Budd (1962)
Outstanding in Every Way
"When is justice compatible with speed?"
Asked of the Captain in the aftermath of Claggart's death, this is one of the transcendent questions of the story - and one of any legal system.
From the compact novel of the same name by Herman Melville, this adaptation by co-star Peter Ustinov - who also directed - is a marvel.
Production value is excellent throughout, in particular, cinematography and set direction.
The performances are completely idiomatic and uniformly superb. Special mention go to Terence Stamp, of course, as Billy Budd, who emotes genuine innocence and perfect trust - and Robert Ryan, who is thoroughly despicable as the sadistic Claggart, the lone vestige of humanity that flickers once through his tortured soul brilliantly executed. Melvyn Douglas wears the tragedy and weariness of the world on his face with a tear-stained countenance, and speaks it movingly with eloquence.
"We do not deal with justice, but with law," says the Captain, and Billy's fate is sealed. After the sentence is carried out, he laments in anguish, "I am not fit to do the work of God... or the Devil." But, then, who amongst us is?
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Film-making of the Highest Order
Simply put, one of the finest motion pictures ever made. From Sherwood's exceptional screenplay to the marvelous, yet beautifully understated, ensemble acting; from Wyler's adroit direction and the superb cinematography of Gregg Toland (employing the deep focus photography he perfected with "Citizen Kane"), to the magnificent score by Hugo Friedhofer (amongst the finest ever written for the screen), this picture is a snapshot of our republic that would have moved the Founders to tears. A film deeply imbued with humanity and decency, experiencing it cannot but make one a better human being.
After Francis Goldwyn read an article entitled "The Way Home" in the 7 August, 1944, edition of Time magazine on the travails of servicemen returning to civilian life from the war, she showed it to her husband, producer Samuel Goldwyn; he was also deeply affected and decided to make a picture about the issues raised.
Goldwyn hired writer, newspaperman and former war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor to write an original story, which became the best-selling blank-verse novella "Glory for Me" (1945); he would later win a Pulitzer Prize for his Civil War novel "Andersonville."
Goldwyn then turned to playwright Robert E. Sherwood to turn Kantor's story into a screenplay. Former Director of War Information and speech-writer for FDR (it was he who coined the phrase that became "the arsenal of democracy"), Sherwood had already won three of his four Pulitzer Prizes and was himself no stranger to the cinema (he had co-written the screenplay for Hitchcock's first American film, "Rebecca," 1940). The result was titled "The Best Years of Our Lives."
Himself fresh out of the service, William Wyler was an ideal choice for director. Commissioned a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Wyler flew actual combat missions while making two classic documentaries, "The Memphis Belle" (1943) and "Thunderbolt" (1944). His courage while filming under extreme and life-threatening conditions earned him an Air Medal - and promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.
From the moment the film's opening credits begin to roll, Hugo Friedhofer's extraordinary music sets the emotional stage for the story about to unfold. Conducted by Franco Collura leading the London S.O., a superb re-recording of the complete Oscar-winning score was made in 1978 and released by Preamble on Lp; the CD was issued in 1988. Preamble is no longer extant, but the Australian 'Label X' obtained the rights and reissued a new digital transfer from the original master tapes in the best sound to date.
Oppenheimer (1980)
BBC Miniseries on DVD - At long last!
President Harry S. Truman once said that the only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.
Seven years before Richard Rhodes' superb Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," the BBC produced a seven-part miniseries, "Oppenheimer," that was a character study of the people who designed and built the weapon that ushered in the Atomic Age, permanently joining science and technology to the state (and, in particular, the military), not merely making history, but changing the world forever.
The production is impeccable, the casting nothing short of miraculous; not only the main characters, but even secondary characters bear uncanny resemblances to the persons portrayed. In particular are Sam Waterston in the title role of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, who was based at the Los Alamos, NM, laboratory (the site for which he personally chose); Manning Redwood as General Leslie R. Groves, who oversaw the entire Manhattan Engineering District (the project's formal name); David Suchet as physicist, and ultimate nemesis of Oppenheimer, Edward Teller (who, nearly forty years later, whispered into Ronald Reagan's ear and brought us the Strategic Defense Initiative - "Star Wars") and Jana Sheldon as Kitty Oppenheimer. The attention to detail is uniformly excellent throughout.
Part thriller, part love story - and ultimately a tragedy, this series faithfully recreates a chapter in world history - and that of science - that we dare not forget. Highest recommendation.
(NOTE: Viewers who enjoy this series will also enjoy Jacob Bronowski's 13-part series "The Ascent of Man" and the BBC film of Michael Frayn's play "Copenhagen".)
The Ascent of Man (1973)
One of the most remarkable achievements in television history
This extraordinary series, thirteen fifty-minute episodes, is one of television's highest achievements; nearly forty years after its completion, it has lost little of its luster.
A mathematician whose professional journey included work on the Manhattan Project, later at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, as well as an editor and scholar of the works of William Blake, Dr. Jacob Bronowski was one of the last true Renaissance men.
Presented here is a veritable smörgåsbord of human history cast against scientific advancements and technological innovations that take the viewer around the world, from the dawn of Man to the then-present of 1972. Along the way, Dr. Bronowski stops to examine some of humanity's greatest accomplishments - and lowest depths. One outstanding quality of this remarkable series is that he speaks to the viewer directly and very personally through the lens of the camera; the book of the same name is a virtual transcript of his remarks.
Not simply lectures (nor read from a script), these extemporaneous essays offer Bronowski's "personal view" on a wide range of human, scientific and technological history, presented in both a dramatic and memorable fashion. For example, the episodes are sprinkled with delightful (and sometimes moving) anecdotes of various people, some of whom Bronowski knew and worked with - such as Leo Szilard (who first conceived the concept of sustained nuclear fission - even coining the term "chain reaction" - and who subsequently wrote the letter which Einstein signed that was sent to FDR, bringing about the Manhattan Project) and John von Neumann (one of the great mathematicians of the twentieth century and the "Father of Electronic Computing").
Anyone with even a passing interest in the history of our species and its place amongst the stars, or of science in general, will be astonished, delighted, deeply moved and profoundly affected by "The Ascent of Man." The production value is of the highest order throughout (and, now in its second DVD incarnation, the sound, which was always somewhat problematic, has been greatly improved, matching the often stunning visuals).
(NOTE: Viewers who enjoy this series will also enjoy both the seven-part BBC miniseries "Oppenheimer" (1980) and their production of Michael Frayen's play "Copenhagen" (2002), both available on DVD.)
Highest possible recommendation.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
A True Classic - and A Gem of the Cinema
"A Matter of Life and Death" is a picture that defines the term 'classic film'. Always inventive in their efforts, The Archers - Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - have here created yet another true cinematic masterpiece that at once is entertaining, thought-provoking and moving. And they do so with great style, taste and wit. This picture is a seamless interweaving of drama, fantasy and humor of the highest order, sprinkled throughout with profound philosophical questions. The attention to detail is impeccable.
Powell and Pressburger employ an ingenuous use of dye-transfer three-strip Technicolor and monochrome photography realized to perfection by the great cinematographer Jack Cardiff that compliments the story perfectly - as does the excellent musical score by Allan Gray.
David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Marius Goring and Raymond Massey head a fine cast and are quite excellent. (Goring, who plays the foppish Conductor 71, also plays the young English composer Julian Craster in another of the Archers' extraordinary films, "The Red Shoes" - portrayals which are testaments to fine acting.) Right from the opening credit, when the archer's bull's-eye fades into Technicolor after the arrow finds its mark, the viewer is in for a grand cinematic treat! A picture that only improves with repeated viewings, AMOLAD deserves to be as well-known as any film the reader can think of - and more so than many which are.
At long last, Region 1 has this cinematic gem available on DVD in an excellent transfer of the complete restoration.