Fail-Safe

Fail-Safe. 1964 Columbia Pictures.
Starring: Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Ed Binns, Fritz Weaver
Also starring: Larry Hagman, Dom DeLuise, Dana Elcar
Director: Sidney Lumet
Available at Amazon.

Sidney Lumet's 1964 film about a nuclear conflict during the Cold War was based on the novel of the same name. It also came out a few months after Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, which had a similar plot, but it was filmed as a comedy. It was a critical success, but many audiences allegedly found it unintentionally funny.

A misguided transmission sends a squadron of American bombers (called Vindicators) towards the Soviet Union, prepared to drop nuclear weaponry onto Moscow. The U.S. government and military try to contact the bombers, but when they have passed their "fail safe" point, they've been instructed to disregard any reversal of orders. Colonel Jack Grady (Binns) is the captain of the Vindicators, and he tries contacting mission control to verify the orders. Radio interference means Grady can't hear any instructions, so he concludes that a nuclear conflict has already started, and orders his men towards Moscow.

At meetings at mission control headquarters in Omaha, the Pentagon, and the fallout shelter of the White House, politicians and scholars discuss the implications of the attack. Professor Groeteschele (Matthau) is in favor of the U.S. following up the accidental attack with a full-scale one to force the Russians to surrender. In contrast, Air Force General Warren "Blackie" Black (O'Herlihy), who has been having a recurring nightmare of a bull killing a matador which he considers a personal omen, urges that every effort be made to either recall or destroy the American planes, otherwise the Soviet Union will respond with an all-out nuclear attack. The military heeds Black's advice, and sends four jets to shoot down the Vindicators, but they fail.

The President (Fonda) contacts the Soviet premier offering assistance in attacking the Vindicators, which the Soviets reluctantly accept. The President tries talking to Grady and telling him there is no war, but Grady says he cannot accept voice orders at this point. Using information about the Vindicators supplied by the U.S. military, the Soviets shoot down five of the six planes. Grady's plane is the last one, and after he contacts the Strategic Air Command headquarters to tell them he is about to make the strike, the Soviets attempt to bring his plane down, but this plan fails. Grady's wife is put on the radio as a last minute effort, trying to convince him to abort his mission, and America has not been attacked. He disregards this, believing that this is obviously a Soviet trick, and proceeds to destroy Moscow.

Arguing that there is only one way to avert full-scale nuclear war with Russia, and to prove that the Moscow attack was a mistake, the President sends a bomber, piloted by General Black, to destroy New York City. The First Lady is also in New York at the time, and will likely perish in the blast. Black and his family also live in New York, and knowing that his family will be among those killed, the General commits suicide by injection after dropping the bomb. As he dies, he remembers his dream and identifies himself as the matador being killed by the bull.

Highly recommended.