Fail Safe (1964 film)

Fail Safe
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sidney Lumet
Screenplay by	Walter Bernstein Peter George (uncredited)
Based on	Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick Harvey Wheeler
Produced by	Sidney Lumet Charles H. Maguire Max E. Youngstein
Starring	Henry Fonda Dan O'Herlihy Walter Matthau Frank Overton Fritz Weaver Edward Binns Larry Hagman
Cinematography	Gerald Hirschfeld
Edited by	Ralph Rosenblum
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Columbia Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	October 7, 1964 (1964-10-07)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.8 million (rentals)[1]

Fail Safe is a 1964 Cold War thriller film directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. The film follows a crisis caused by a critical error that sends a group of U.S. bombers to destroy Moscow, and the ensuing attempts to stop the bomber group before it can deploy a nuclear first strike. The film features performances by actors Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Fritz Weaver, Edward Binns, Larry Hagman, Sorrell Booke, Dana Elcar and Dom DeLuise.

In 2000, the novel was adapted again as a televised play starring George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss and Noah Wyle, and broadcast live in black and white on CBS.