Fail Safe
Henry Fonda in Fail Safe (1964), directed by Sidney Lumet.
Fail Safe
film by Lumet [1964]
Fail Safe, American thriller film, released in 1964, that centres on an accidental nuclear attack during the Cold War. Director Sidney Lumet shot the black-and-white movie in a minimalist, claustrophobic, documentary style and without a musical score to heighten the tension. Fail Safe revolves around the inability of the United States to recall a squadron of nuclear-armed bombers inadvertently ordered to attack Moscow. The U.S. president (played by Henry Fonda) desperately tries to convince the Soviets that the attack is a mistake. In order to prevent an all-out nuclear war, the president states that he will order bombs to be ...(100 of 247 words)