Review of Fail Safe (1964) by Shawn W — 09 Sep 2012

Tense Cold-War drama about a military bomber group loaded with nuclear weapons that through a series of improbable circumstances is given the order to bomb Moscow. The term fail-safe is used to describe a couple of scenarios, the first is a point on the map where once the planes pass it means they are to attack the second describes a device that is meant to prevent just such a situation from happening.

The majority of the film is shot in three locations; the war department in the Pentagon, an Air Force command center, and a bomb shelter below the White House. Henry Fonda is the President, he portrays him with the somber grace that we all hope our President can perform under in an unwinnable situation.

The film is shot in B&W which proves very effective given the minimal sets and enhances the drama. Since the film is set in mainly the three rooms we follow the path of the attacking planes by white dots on a large map on the wall and with the B&W film it gives these dots a ghostly appearance.

As the bombers get closer to their target the emotion of what is right and what is wrong becomes less clear, do you do what is right for your country and fail humanity or do you do what is right for humanity and fail your country.

In perhaps what is the most stirring and unbelievable sacrifice we have seen in film, the President orders that if the bombs strike Moscow he orders a similar attack on New York, a city for a city, to prevent war.

It is the best example of a time past and the distrust that each side felt for each other during the Cold War. It also shows what everyone already knew that no matter what the other side did no one would win and that even if the 50's are considered the "good old days" there was a dark cloud hanging over them.