As does his big-screen debut, "12 Angry Men" (1957), Sidney Lumet's "Fail-Safe" continues to speak volumes today -- 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."
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Top reviews from other countries
Tom
Great product! Good quality and arrived on time
Reviewed in Canada on December 4, 2020
Jean-Pierre GILSON
Très inquiétant et pas démodé
Reviewed in France on March 2, 2013
