Discover
This unnerving procedural thriller painstakingly details an all-too-plausible nightmare scenario in which a mechanical failure jams the United States military’s chain of command and sends the country hurtling toward nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Working from a contemporary best seller, screenwriter Walter Bernstein and director Sidney Lumet wrench harrowing suspense from the doomsday fears of the Cold War era, making the most of a modest budget and limited sets to create an atmosphere of clammy claustrophobia and astronomically high stakes. Starring Henry Fonda as a coolheaded U.S. president and Walter Matthau as a trigger-happy political theorist, Fail Safe is a long-underappreciated alarm bell of a film, sounding an urgent warning about the deadly logic of mutually assured destruction.
Original Release
10/07/1964
US Release
10/07/1964
Links
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Dan O'Herlihy | Gen. Black / Brig. Gen. Warren A. Black |
Walter Matthau | Dr. Groeteschele / Prof. Groeteschele |
Frank Overton | Gen. Bogan |
Edward Binns | Col. Grady / Col. Jack Grady |
Fritz Weaver | Col. Cascio |
Henry Fonda | The President |
Larry Hagman | Buck |
William Hansen | Secretary Swenson / Defense Secretary Swenson |
Russell Hardie | Gen. Stark |
Russell Collins | Knapp |
Directors
Writers
Walter Bernstein, Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler, Peter George
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Dan O'Herlihy | Gen. Black / Brig. Gen. Warren A. Black |
Walter Matthau | Dr. Groeteschele / Prof. Groeteschele |
Frank Overton | Gen. Bogan |
Edward Binns | Col. Grady / Col. Jack Grady |
Fritz Weaver | Col. Cascio |
Henry Fonda | The President |
Larry Hagman | Buck |
William Hansen | Secretary Swenson / Defense Secretary Swenson |
Russell Hardie | Gen. Stark |
Russell Collins | Knapp |
Sorrell Booke | Congressman Raskob |
Nancy Berg | Ilsa Wolfe |
John Connell | Thomas |
Frank Simpson | Sullivan |
Hildy Parks | Betty Black |
Janet Ward | Mrs. Grady / Helen Grady |
Dom Deluise | Sgt. Collins / TSgt. Collins |
Dana Elcar | Foster |
Stewart Germain | Mr. Cascio |
Louise Larabee | Mrs. Cascio |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Sidney Lumet | Executive Producer |
Charles H. Maguire | Producer |
Max E. Youngstein | Producer |