Review of Fail Safe (1964) by Kevin M. W — 23 Apr 2017

It is the early-mid-1960s and the Cold War is at its peak. An intruder on US radar sends US nuclear-armed bombers to their standby points just outside Russia - their Fail-Safe points. The alert turns out to be a false alarm and the bombers are stood down. However, due to a mechanical error one group of six supersonic bombers is ordered to proceed to its target - Moscow. Desperate to avoid World War 3 the US does everything to prevent the bombers reaching their target, including helping the Russians shoot them down. It becomes a race against time and mistrust with the fate of the world at stake.

1964 gave us the greatest movie on Cold War paranoia and the lunacy involved in the nuclear arms race. It was a rather funny and satirical movie with a very powerful and serious message. Directed by the great Stanley Kubrick it had Peter Sellers in three different roles and included an iconic image involving Slim Pickens. I am, of course, referring to Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stop Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb (Dr. Strangelove for short).

Fail-Safe was released in the same year and, while it covers many of the same themes and even has a similar plot, it is not in the same league as Dr. Strangelove. Using humour to convey the lunacy of the situation, Dr. Strangelove conveyed its message effortlessly and entertainingly, even subtly, while still retaining the direness of the situation. Fail-Safe resorts to soapboxing speeches and cartoon villains to get its message across.

Not that Fail-Safe is bad - it is still very intriguing and tension-filled. However, many of the scenes and characters are incredibly irritating. Walter Matthau's Professor Groeteschele has to be one of the most one-dimensional, cartoon-like characters in all of cinema history.

Add in a very implausible, contrived solution to the crisis and you feel cheated out of seeing what could have been a very powerful, realistic drama.

Overall: interesting and watchable, but only just. The US-Russia negotiations, the air battle scenes and the intrigue make for good watching. Any scenes involving Walter Matthau/Professor Groeteschele make you think of switching off.