Fail Safe

4/25/2026

**Fail Safe (1964)** _Directed by Sidney Lumet_ Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe is one of the first Hollywood films to seriously propose that nuclear Armageddon could be brought about by system error. A technical malfunction sends American bombers to Moscow with orders to attack, and the President (Henry Fonda) must work desperately to stop catastrophe before it's too late. Based on a novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, the screenplay is excellent, the tension relentless, the performances more than sufficient to create the desired effect. As far as nuclear war goes, we as a world apparently have not made any progress toward reducing the risk of suddenly and catastrophically wiping out most of Earth's population. If anything, it's now worse. More nations have nuclear weapons, comm