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When Fail Safe opened in October 1964, it garnered excellent reviews, but its box-office performance was poor. Its failure rested with the similarity between it and the nuclear war satire Dr. Strangelove, which had appeared in theaters first, in January 1964.
Since Kubrick insisted that the studio release his movie first in January 1964, [7] the perceived commonality led to Fail Safe opening in October later that year to poor box office performance, despite excellent reviews for its more serious depiction of a nuclear crisis than Kubrick's overtly satirical approach.
Although Fail Safe was to be a realistic thriller, Kubrick feared that its plot resemblance would damage his film's box office potential, especially if Fail Safe were released first. Indeed, the novel Fail-Safe (on which the film is based) is so similar to Red Alert that Kubrick and Peter George sued on charges of copyright infringement. [2]
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events, including three highly successful musical films, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Top-grossing films (U.S.) [ edit ]
The title refers to the "fail-safe point" used by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to prevent any SAC bomber from accidentally crossing into Soviet airspace and precipitating a nuclear war. In general, a fail safe ensures that, as far as possible, the machine or process will not make things worse in the event of something going wrong. The title ...
Kubrick's Dr Strangelove is far more realistic in that the primary and secondary targets are pre-assigned and all the bombers need is the go-code. Fail Safe shows an obsolete procedure, high-level penetration by supersonic B-58s, which was no longer possible in 1964 due to Soviet missile defences.
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Matthau is also known for his performances in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957), the Elvis Presley vehicle King Creole (1958), Stanley Donen's romance Charade (1963), Fail Safe (1964), Gene Kelly's musical Hello, Dolly! (1969), Elaine May's screwball comedy A New Leaf (1971) and Herbert Ross's ensemble comedy California Suite (1978).