Fail-Safe (1964 film)
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Fail-Safe is a 1964 film about a nuclear strike launched by accident.
- Directed by Sidney Lumet. Based on the novel 'Fail-Safe' by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler.
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Contents |
[edit] Brigadier General Warren Abraham Black
- [flying over New York City] We've all been briefed on the mission, so there is nothing more to say. I only have one last order...no one else is to have anything to do with the dropping of the bombs. I repeat, I will fly the plane and release the bombs. The final act is mine.
- [dying words] Katie...a dream...a dream...the matador...the matador... the matador...me...me.
[edit] Dialogue
- [on Groeteschele recommending a first strike]
- General Black: You're justifying murder.
- Professor Groeteschele: Yes, to keep from being murdered!
- U.S. Ambassador to Moscow: Mr. President!
- The President: Yes, Jay?
- U.S. Ambassador to Moscow: I can hear the sound of explosions from the northeast! The sky is very bright, all lit up(cut off by high shrill sound of the Ambassador's phone melting from the nuclear blast)
- The President:(on the intercom) Put me through to General Black.
- General Black: Yes, Mr. President?
- The President: Blackie...
- General Black:(obviously upset) Yes, Mr. President?
- The President:(sighing in resignation) Moscow's been destroyed. Drop your bombs according to plan.
- General Black:(pause) Yes, sir.
[On the reliability of computers.]
- General Bogan: Mr. Knapp here knows as much about electronic gear as anyone. He'd like to say something.
- Gordon Knapp: The more complex an electronic system gets, the more accident prone it is. Sooner or later it breaks down.
- Secretary Swenson: What breaks down?
- Gordon Knapp: A transistor blows . . . a condenser burns out . . . sometimes they just get tied--like people.
- Professor Groeteschele: Mr. Knapp overlooks one factor, the machines are supervised by humans. Even if the machine fails a human can always correct the mistake.
- Gordon Knapp: I wish you were right. The fact is, the machines work so fast . . . they are so intricate . . . the mistakes they make are so subtle . . . that very often a human being just can't know whether a machine is lying or telling the truth.
[edit] Cast
- Dan O'Herlihy — General Warren Abraham Black or "Blackie"
- Henry Fonda — The President
- Walter Matthau — Professor Groeteschele
- Larry Hagman - Buck
- Frank Overton - Gen. Bogan
- Ed Binns - Col. Jack Grady
- Fritz Weaver - Col. Cascio
- William Hansen - Defense Secretary Swenson
- Russell Hardie - Gen. Stark
- Russell Collins - Gordon Knapp
- Sorrell Booke - Congressman Raskob
- Nancy Berg - Ilsa Woolfe
- Dom DeLuise - Sgt. Collins
- Frieda Altman - Mrs. Jennie Johnson
- Hildy Parks - Betty Black
- Janet Ward - Helen Grady
- Louise Larabee - Mrs. Cascio
[edit] External links
- Fail-Safe quotes at the Internet Movie Database
