"Fail Safe" (1964) vs "Dr. Strangelove" (1964)

I just watched the Cold War classic "Fail Safe" for the first time in many years (and now being an adult) absolutely loved it. The ultra-stark, high contrast B&W, the wonderful script, fantastic performances by world-weary looking men, and, of course, Sidney Lumet at the helm -- one of the greatest! I loved every minute of "Fail Safe."

But having watched Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" recently, I couldn't help but notice how similar they are storywise. It's almost bothersome. I had to do a little research because i was curious about "Fail Safe" vs "Dr. Strangelove." I wondered which film came out first, and it turns out they came out the same year!

I found this on Wikipedia, apparently Kubrick was worried about the similarities and slapped a lawsuit on "Fail Safe" based on the fact that the same lawsuit had been applied to the book "Fail Safe" and "Red Alert" on which "Dr. Strangelove" is based.

During the filming of Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick learned that Fail Safe, a film with a similar theme, was being produced. Although Fail Safe was to be an ultrarealistic thriller, Kubrick feared that its plot resemblance would damage his film's box office potential, especially if it were released first. Indeed, the novel Fail-Safe (on which the film is based) is so similar to Red Alert that Peter George sued on charges of plagiarism and settled out of court.[43] What worried Kubrick most was that Fail Safe boasted acclaimed director Sidney Lumet and first-rate dramatic actors Henry Fonda as the American President and Walter Matthau as the advisor to the Pentagon, Professor Groeteschele. Kubrick decided to throw a legal wrench into Fail Safe's production gears. Lumet recalled in the documentary Inside the Making of Dr. Strangelove: "We started casting. Fonda was already set ... which of course meant a big commitment in terms of money. I was set, Walter [Bernstein, the screenwriter] was set ... And suddenly, this lawsuit arrived, filed by Stanley Kubrick and Columbia Pictures." Kubrick argued that Fail Safe's own 1960 source novel Fail-Safe had been plagiarized from Peter George's Red Alert, to which Kubrick owned creative rights and pointed out unmistakable similarities in intentions between the characters Groeteschele and Strangelove. The plan worked, and Fail Safe opened eight months behind Dr. Strangelove, to critical acclaim but mediocre ticket sales.

Having watched both films within a week, I really find "Fail Safe" a much better film. If I had to bestow "classic" on just one, I'd pick "Fail Safe" for its gritty, hard hitting impact. I realize one is a comedy and one is a drama, but "Dr. Strangelove" feels like a trifle compared to "Fail Safe" and on reviewings, I find "Dr. Strangelove" drags a little bit, while the script of "Fail Safe" is pretty riveting.

 

I remember the first time I saw Fail Safe, I was 13 years old and it was on TV really late at night, like 1 or 2 AM. It scared the hell out of me.

 

Have yet to see Fail Safe. Want to though.

 

I've found both films to be brilliant. They are virtually the same story given a different treatment, and that's kind of a tragedy right there. Spent most of my adult life wishing one or the other didn't exist.

 

Back in the early 1980's I saw both of these movies as a double-bill at the local university. I was still in high-school and my older sister was in some sociology course there that was showing them & she took me along. 'Strangelove' was first & the whole crowd of college kids was crying with laughter throughout. I loved it too.
At the intermission I snuck off & puffed on a doobie, just for kicks. Big mistake. 'Fail Safe' comes on & you could have heard a pin drop. I was stoned-terrified. After the movie was over people were crying. I didn't sleep for a week. Still 2 of my favorite movies to this day...

 

I love both but I'll give my vote to fail safe.... such a brilliant movie in every way...

 

Fail Safe. Scared the crap out of me and Fonda was, as usually the case, superb. Chilling film.

 

Dr Strangelove is one of my absolute favorite films.

Aside from Fonda's scenes Fail-Safe is clumsy, sometimes laughable soap opera, badly directed with insanely overused extreme closeups. Some actors (Fonda, O'Herlihy) fare better than others... While Sorrell Booke was invariably bad, Walter Matthau could act precisely when properly directed. I blame Lumet.

 

The exact same thing happened to me, give or take a year.

 

For some of you younger folks, both movies were just about a year-and-a-half after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the effluent damn near hit the fan FOR REAL. This gave both movies a special meaningfulness for me, as I had just turned 16 and was in my Junior year of HS when Cuba happened. For about 2 weeks, our History classes, taught by a survivor of the Bataan Death March and also a county Civil Defense honcho, consisted of survival instructions should the whole thing come down to a nuclear exchange! Kind of puts both excellent movies into context......

 

Check out "The Forbin Project".

 

fonda was effortlessly brilliant ....they remade it as a live tv special with Clooney on 2000, I dont remember much of that one but I saw the original in the mid 80's and its stuck with me

 

This was at the height of the Cold War. I remember watching both while in the USAF and stationed at Loring AFB ME. Quite often all of the B52s would all start and takeoff. We didn’t know whether it was for real or not. I worked on F106 interceptor aircraft and we would often scramble or alert planes. These two movies (especially “Fail Safe”) while not completely accurate had us riveted to our seats and were the subjects of intense conversation.

Fail Safe was/is a great movie and holds up well even today.

 

Fail Safe just isn't fun enough for me to wanna watch it again and again when I could be with Dr. Strangelove. I haven't seen Dr. Strangelove enough times yet. I've certainly seen it 50 times or more....

 

Both films are essential viewing. The shadowy black-n-white visual effects set the anxious mood.

BTW, wasn't Dom DeLuise in Fail Safe? IIRC, he played a uniformed Air Force sergeant.....

 

Dom DeLuise was in Fail Safe. I don't recall what role.

Interesting topic to discuss. Both films are brilliant but I give the edge to Strangelove if only for it's ability to lay on satire. I have seen Fail Safe a few times and it really is a great great film. The mood it strikes and maintains, the performances - a younger Larry Hagman as the interpreter - are brilliant, but I have to give the edge to Kubrick and Terry Southern for execution of the screenplay. Satire is tricky to pull off and this theme doesn't lend itself to satire. How do you make the impending death of the world funny and pointed? It is easy to imagine now how to take the p*** out of politicians and warmongerers now but in the early 60s I don't think that was seen as broadly on film. I was very young when it came out but it must have been a very talked about movie regarding how it viewed some sacred cows of the tie time.

I still don't get over the final scenes of Fail Safe but for me Strangelove remains the more memorable movie and thought of more often for it's use of words and images.

 

After these two heavy-hitters this 1965 gem seems to have fallen into obscurity. I actually prefer it for its compactness and singlemindedness.

 

I only saw Fail Safe once but it left a deep impression on me, quite chilling.
I have watched Dr. Strangelove a few times and it features great acting, particularly in Peter Seller's multi-roles and the comedy lightens the mood.
Still, Fail Safe is a landmark film.

 

Wasn't the reason Fail Safe was made was to reassure the public that Dr. Strangelove would never happen....??? I think that Dr. Strangelove really spooked the public.

 

never seen it, looks good

 

I prefer Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick nailed the absurdity on it all on the head with his satire.

 

Gentlemen! you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

 

Count me as a fan of both, with a slight preference for FAIL SAFE. It appears that FAIL SAFE is only on international-sourced Blu-Ray, and that is reportedly not the best of transfers. I'm still using the DVD from 2000.