Fail Safe

Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for Fail Safe (1964) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Larry Hagman, Frank Overton, Edward Binns DIRECTOR: Sidney Lumet CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gerald Hirschfeld PRODUCTION: Columbia Pictures

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for Fail Safe (1964). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

Fail Safe so closely resembled Peter George's novel Red Alert, on which Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove was based, that screenwriter/director Kubrick and George filed a copyright infringement lawsuit. The case was settled out of court, with Columbia Pictures (which had financed and was distributing Dr. Strangelove) buying and distributing the independently produced Fail Safe. Kubrick insisted that the studio release his movie first.

The character of Groeteschele was inspired, according to Lumet's audio commentary on the film, by Hudson Institute military strategist Herman Kahn.

The US Department of Defense and Air Force declined any cooperation with the production, because its premise involved a lack of control over nuclear strike forces. At the end of the film's credits, a scrolling, full-screen textual message appears, rendered in a bold all-capitals font. The message reads, "The producers of this film wish to stress that it is the stated position of the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force that a rigidly enforced system of safeguards and controls insure that occurrences such as those depicted in this story cannot happen".

Jazz musician Hal Schaefer wrote a score for the film. However, Sidney Lumet elected not to use it, instead having the film play without non-diegetic music (similar to 12 Angry Men). Snippets of the unused score can be heard in the film's trailer. Nonetheless, Columbia Records released a five-minute suite of Schaefer's score on vinyl record.

▸ Filming & Locations

Because of the film's relatively low-budget (estimated at under $1.2 million), filming took place almost entirely in Lumet's hometown of New York City, with the key locations built as soundstage sets at Fox Movietone Studios on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan.

The "Vindicator" bombers are represented in the film by stock footage of Convair B-58 Hustlers, which could fly at twice the speed of sound. Fighters sent to attack the bombers are illustrated by film clips variously of the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, and Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Stock footage was used because the Air Force objected to presenting the U.S. nuclear strike force being thrown into deadly disarray by an equipment malfunction and declined to cooperate in the production. A nightmarish quality is achieved by showing numerous flying sequences in photographic negative, as if being illuminated by a brilliant nuclear flash. In several of the negative sequences, the "Soviet interceptors" are actually French-built Dassault Mirage III fighters with Israeli markings.

[Filming] Because of the film's relatively low-budget (estimated at under $1.2 million), filming took place almost entirely in Lumet's hometown of New York City, with the key locations built as soundstage sets at Fox Movietone Studios on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan.

The "Vindicator" bombers are represented in the film by stock footage of Convair B-58 Hustlers, which could fly at twice the speed of sound. Fighters sent to attack the bombers are illustrated by film clips variously of the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, and Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Stock footage was used because the Air Force objected to presenting the U.S. nuclear strike force being thrown into deadly disarray by an equipment malfunction and declined to cooperate in the production. A nightmarish quality is achieved by showing numerous flying sequences in photographic negative, as if being illuminated by a brilliant nuclear flash.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award3 nominations total

Nominations: ○ United Nations Awards

Additional Recognition: The film was nominated at the 1966 BAFTA Awards in the United Nations Award category.

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Over the years, both the novel and the movie were well received for their depiction of a nuclear crisis, despite many critical reviews rejecting the notion that a breakdown in communication could result in the erroneous "Go" command depicted in the novel and the movie.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% approval rating based on 30 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Fail-Safe strikes an impressive chord with its grim, high-minded exploration of the ultimate Doomsday scenario."