Fail Safe (1964 film)

Fail Safe is a 1964 American Cold War political thriller film directed and produced by Sidney Lumet, adapted by Walter Bernstein from the 1962 novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Larry Hagman, Fritz Weaver, Dana Elcar, Dom DeLuise and Sorrell Booke.

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 was released by Columbia Pictures on October 7, 1964. It was a commercial disappointment, but was well-received by critics. In 2000, the novel was adapted again as a televised play, and broadcast live in black-and-white on CBS.