Fail Safe?

[dread31]

How many of you know and love this movie?

With Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, and Larry Hagman.
Filmed in 1964.

Love the footage of the B-58 Hustler, an aircraft I consider to be one of the most beautiful ever made, without the humungous centerline tank.

Story line kinda far fetched? Perhaps. But, what a trip.

"I am the Matador."


Dave

[Sandy G]

I watched it on late-nite TV when I was a kid of 12, 13...Scared the Hell outta me, because something like that seemed plausible then (1969-70).

[dread31]

I saw it for the first time as a teenager 1977-78, or somewhere thereabouts.
I remember, for the first time in my life thinking about how insane the (Cold War) situation was. And this movie, even though it was just a Hollywood fantasy, was what first made my young mind wake up to the real world. (Serving sea duty in the Navy a few years later was the second thing.)

Maybe this is why I keep watching it?

Anyhow, great movie, great actors.

Dave

[birddog]

YEE-HAW! Great flick!

[mhardy6647]

This movie (and book) and Dr. Strangelove are cousins; two takes on the exact same theme.

De-rated versions of the twin-spool axial-flow turbofan engines used on the B-58 were used to power the amazing Convair 990 jetliner -- probably the most beautiful but tempermental (and ultimately) unsuccessful commerical passenger jet of all.


(image from the airliners.net database)


EDIT: fun, music-related B-58 fact from Wikipedia:
Singer John Denver's father, Col. Henry J. Deutschendorf, Sr., held several speed records as a B-58 pilot

[Sandy G]

IIRC, the 990 was FAST, too-Would break the sound barrier in a shallow dive, something the 707 or DC-8 couldn't do. And the Hustler-One of the most beautiful planes there ever was-was mustered out of service before the ashtrays even got full...

[outshined]

Great flick. Takes itself seriously, but it's a serious pretense. I never thought it plausible that we would, er, oops... don't wanna give the plot away...

I believe the B-58 (built the model as a kid) still holds some speed and distance records to this day, although I could be right.

The 58 gets my vote for best looking jet ever built.

[biker1059]

Wow, I forgot I have the movie on VHS. Need to upgrade to DVD if its available. Great movie and cast. Thanks

[kcollins4]

Fantastic flic! Dr. Strangelove was a parody of Failsafe. Both great movies in their own right.

[markc2]

That was a creepy movie the way I remember it. Or very unsettling. I saw it on HBO as a kid and just kept on thinking would we really do that...

found this about the jet..

http://www.aviation-history.com/convair/b58.html

but my favorite is still the SR-71.

[Holst]

That is such a well done movie, I've seen it a bunch of times. It's also notable as it is one of the most faithful screenplays. It's a great book and the movie takes in all of it.

[anden]

In reply to Kcollins4........Dr Strangelove was not a parody of Fail-Safe, strangelove opened in Dec. 1963, Fail-safe opened in Oct. 1964. There was a complicated lawsuit involving the books which inspired each of these movies, Failsafe the book & Red Alert- the book. Columbia took over distribution of both pictures.

Trying to explain all the details would involve at least a 1000 word reply, it's complicated.

At any rate, my father was in Dr. Strangelove, (Sterling Hayden) playing Jack Ripper who starts WWIII.

Andrew Hayden

[RussinOhio]

Originally Posted by anden

Trying to explain all the details would involve at least a 1000 word reply, it's complicated.

Yes, it is quite complicated. I have a few books on the life & work of Kubrick and I've read that Kubricks partner, James B. Harris was not all that keen on the idea of "Strangelove" being made as a comedy....So Harris left the production in the early stages when Kubrick decided to make a Black comedy as opposed to a straight forward Drama. The two men however did remain freinds.
Harris went on to direct his own cold-war drama called: "The Bedford Incident"....about a gung-ho patriotic destroyer captain that accidently starts WW3 by taking things too far. A VERY good movie in itself, BTW.

"Fail Safe"
"Strangelove"
"Bedford Incident"

.....all three very good movies which are connected to one another in some ways....but as you've stated...quite complicated indeed!

Russ

[mhardy6647]

There's information out on teh interweb on the interrelationships of the three movies (and books), as well.

[chathamdad]

At any rate, my father was in Dr. Strangelove, (Sterling Hayden) playing Jack Ripper who starts WWIII.

Andrew:

Your dad was an amazing, iconic actor with a great portfolio of roles. Ripper has to be one of the greatest satirical movie characters in history, and I cannot imagine anyone else playing that role.