Nuclear war was a hot topic back in 1964 -- Bob Dylan was singing songs about it ("With God On Our Side"), Lyndon Johnson was making campaign commercials about it (the "Daisy" spot that I've never understood), and Stanley Kubrick and Sidney Lumet were making movies about it ("Dr. Strangelove" and "Fail-Safe," respectively). "Strangelove" and "Fail-Safe" have identical stories -- a misunderstanding leads to nuclear devastation -- and are similar in visual style -- both filmed in the shadowy black-and-white that, in cinematic terms, indicates intellectual heft. But "Strangelove" is much better-remembered today, in part because Kubrick is considered an auteur and Lumet a talented journeyman, and in part because "Strangelove" is a comedy while "Fail-Safe" is about as funny as, well, a nuclear war. Plus, the dialogue can get a bit stiff and some of the acting is a tad wooden. Still, Lumet, his star Henry Fonda and screenwriter Walter Bernstein should be commended for having the moral courage to stare unthinkable horror in the face without giggling nervously. They also managed to make a very gripping movie.
The plot is familiar to fans of 80s New Wave songs -- sparks in the software cause a nuclear error, and, shades of "Strangelove," a plane that can't be recalled is on its way to bomb the USSR into oblivion. Except for a couple of stylistic gimmicks at the beginning and end of the movie, "Fail-Safe" is made in a dry, docudrama style, with no music, quick cutting or split screens. There's also a lot more stock footage spliced in than one would expect of a major studio movie. In short, "Fail-Safe" looks like it was made on the cheap. But that's fine, higher production values equate with higher entertainment value, and to paraphrase one of the characters, nuclear war isn't some damn football game.
Most of the action is divided between Strategic Air Command in Omaha, the Pentagon and the White House. Helplessly watching the approach of the apocalypse at SAC are Frank Overton as a gruff but compassionate commander and Fritz Weaver as a patriotic but unstable colonel. Debating the morality of war at the Pentagon are Walter Matthau as a pompous academic and Dan O'Herlihy as a sensitive general. On the phone with the Kremlin from the White House basement are Henry Fonda, as the kind of wise, affable, slightly melancholy president we all try to convince ourself is serving as commander-in-chief, and Larry Hagman, surprisingly subtle and vulnerable as the POTUS' nervous interpreter. There are also some effectively tense scenes in the plane on the way to Moscow. It's a macho world, and all the gentlemen conduct themselves with the dignified reserve expected of mid-20th century, establishment WASPs. This is the real "Mad Men."
The plot is familiar to fans of 80s New Wave songs -- sparks in the software cause a nuclear error, and, shades of "Strangelove," a plane that can't be recalled is on its way to bomb the USSR into oblivion. Except for a couple of stylistic gimmicks at the beginning and end of the movie, "Fail-Safe" is made in a dry, docudrama style, with no music, quick cutting or split screens. There's also a lot more stock footage spliced in than one would expect of a major studio movie. In short, "Fail-Safe" looks like it was made on the cheap. But that's fine, higher production values equate with higher entertainment value, and to paraphrase one of the characters, nuclear war isn't some damn football game.
Most of the action is divided between Strategic Air Command in Omaha, the Pentagon and the White House. Helplessly watching the approach of the apocalypse at SAC are Frank Overton as a gruff but compassionate commander and Fritz Weaver as a patriotic but unstable colonel. Debating the morality of war at the Pentagon are Walter Matthau as a pompous academic and Dan O'Herlihy as a sensitive general. On the phone with the Kremlin from the White House basement are Henry Fonda, as the kind of wise, affable, slightly melancholy president we all try to convince ourself is serving as commander-in-chief, and Larry Hagman, surprisingly subtle and vulnerable as the POTUS' nervous interpreter. There are also some effectively tense scenes in the plane on the way to Moscow. It's a macho world, and all the gentlemen conduct themselves with the dignified reserve expected of mid-20th century, establishment WASPs. This is the real "Mad Men."