UW Cinematheque | Fail Safe (1964)

After a computer error deploys a U.S. bomber group to nuke Moscow, those on the ground in Washington scramble to stop the planes and negotiate with the Soviets to prevent all-out global conflict. Fonda stars as the level-headed but beleaguered President of the United States in the movie that has become known as the “straight” version of Dr. Strangelove, which was released the same year and by the same studio. Fail Safe remains one of Hollywood’s boldest and darkest dramatizations of a nuclear worst-case scenario. Lumet’s mastery of claustrophobic tension is on full display here, piling on complications and impossible choices that build to a truly unforgettable ending. (LSL)