Poster

Fail Safe ()

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Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.
Directors:
Writers:
Stars:
Awards:
  • Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 11 nominations.
  • See more »
Reviews:

Photos and Videos

50 photos | 1 video

Cast

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Self - Host
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President
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Buck
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Gen. Bogan
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Congressman Raskob
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Gordon Knapp
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Col. Cascio
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Prof. Groeteschele
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Defense Secretary Swenson
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Gen. Stark (as William Smitrovich)
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Lt. Jimmy Pierce
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Col. Jack Grady
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Brig. Gen. Warren Black
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Mrs. Johnson
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Jimmy
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SM Sgt. Collins
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Billy Flynn
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Betty Black
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Tommy Grady
Alfred A. Buckles
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(voice)
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(voice) (as Eugene Lazarev)
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(voice)
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(voice)
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(voice)
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(voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vanessa Elgrichi ...
Col. Jack Grady's Daughter
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Col. Jack Grady's Son
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Maj. Lande (uncredited)

Directed by

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Stephen Frears
Martin Pasetta ... (director: live broadcast) (as Martin A. Pasetta Jr.)

Written by

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Eugene Burdick ... (novel) and
Harvey Wheeler ... (novel)
 
Walter Bernstein ... (teleplay)

Produced by

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Walter Bernstein ... co-executive producer
George Clooney ... executive producer
Amy Minda Cohen ... coordinating producer
Tom Park ... producer
Harvey Wheeler ... co-executive producer
Eric J. Wilker ... associate producer
Pamela Oas Williams ... executive producer
Laura Ziskin ... executive producer

Cinematography by

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John A. Alonzo ... (as John Alonzo)

Editorial Department

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Anne V. Coates ... editorial consultant

Casting By

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Barbara Miller
Anthony Sepulveda

Production Design by

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Richard Hoover

Art Direction by

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Troy Sizemore

Set Decoration by

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Alice Baker

Costume Design by

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Molly Maginnis

Makeup Department

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Kim M. Ferry ... key hair stylist
Myke Michaels ... key makeup artist
Allen Payne ... hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Wendy Acey ... associate director (as Wendy Charles Acey)
Tim Kettle ... associate director

Art Department

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Yaniv Bashan ... set dresser
Karen Brenner ... art department intern
Robert Carbajal ... paint gangboss
Pam Cartmel ... art department coordinator
Dianne Chadwick ... graphic designer
Barry Franenberg ... property master
A. Todd Holland ... set designer
Gregory S. Hooper ... set designer (as Greg Hooper)
Michael E. Johnson ... set dresser
Bobby Mara ... construction general foreman
John McElroy ... props
Charlie Montoya ... set dresser
Christopher Schultz ... set dresser
Dawn Swiderski ... set designer
Mark Vitale ... construction coordinator

Sound Department

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Peter Baird ... sound effects mixer
Ed Greene ... production audio mixer / sound
Hugh Healy ... production sound mixer
Larry Reed ... production sound mixer

Visual Effects by

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Brian J. McNamara ... On-air titles, graphics and credits

Camera and Electrical Department

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Theodore Ashton ... camera operator
David Chameides ... camera operator / steadicam operator
Rocky Danielson ... camera operator
Julian de la Pena ... dimmer board operator
Sam Drummy ... camera operator
Dave Eastwood ... camera operator
Scott Fieldsteel ... assistant chief lighting technician
Thomas Geren ... camera operator
Hank Geving ... camera operator
Larry Heider ... camera operator
David Irete ... camera operator
Andy Kessler ... assistant camera
Kim Killingsworth ... lighting designer
David Levisohn ... camera operator
John O'Brien ... video controller
Wayne Orr ... camera operator
Bill Philbin ... camera operator
Hector Ramirez ... camera operator
Chuck Reilly ... video controller
Dennis Turner ... camera operator
Kelly Waldman ... gaffer
Earl Woody ... lighting department
Easter Xua ... camera operator

Casting Department

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Barbara Miller ... executive in charge of casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Javier Arrieta ... costumer
Nava R. Sadan ... set costumer
Valerie Zielonka ... costume supervisor

Script and Continuity Department

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Kris Sheets ... script supervisor
Marla Zack ... script coordinator

Additional Crew

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Wendy Altman-Cohen ... principal eyewear
William Bardelli ... associate director (as Will Bardelli)
Francesco Belfiore ... personal assistant: Harvey Keitel
Gilbert Beliso ... production assistant
Alfred A. Buckles ... military advisor
Steve Burgess ... stage manager
Neil Clark ... computer graphic artist
Richard Clark ... computer playback supervisor
Rupert Cole ... set production assistant
Gene Crowe ... technical director
Chris Kiley ... stage manager
Tami Kumin ... key set production assistant
Harve Levine ... stage manager
Relmondo P. Maeder ... production assistant
Scott Morgan ... production assistant
Dency Nelson ... stage manager
Paolo Paci ... production assistant
Vince Poxon ... stage manager
Shannon Ratcliffe ... assistant: Mr. Clooney
Jason Roberts ... stage manager
Allison L. Staak ... production coordinator
Ken Stein ... stage manager
Debbie Williams ... stage manager
Ethel Winant ... executive consultant
Justin Yungfleisch ... production coordinator
Troy Hartman ... stand-in: Mr. Clooney (uncredited)
Ante Novakovic ... assistant: Harvey Keitel (uncredited)
Denis O'Sullivan ... assistant: Harvey Keitel (uncredited)
Jon Sperry ... dialect coach (uncredited)

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Keywords
Taglines The World on The Brink of Accidental War -- UNFOLDING LIVE! See more »
Genres
Parents Guide Add content advisory for parents »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Point limite (France)
  • Fail Safe - Befehl ohne Ausweg (Germany)
  • Fail Safe. Sin retorno (Spain)
  • FAIL SAFE 未知への飛行 (Japan, Japanese title)
  • Zona de seguridad (Uruguay)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 86 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Did You Know?

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Trivia The movie was performed on live television in black and white, and required two soundstages on the Warner Brothers studio lot. Harvey Keitel (Brigadier General Warren Black) had to run between the two stages for some of his scenes. See more »
Goofs When Buck begins translating, he begins speaking *immediately* upon hearing the Soviet premier speak, betraying the fact that he's just reciting lines in a script. A real translator would need to listen to most of the first sentence before speaking, especially with languages that place the verb at or near the end of the sentence, as most languages other than English do. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in The 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2000). See more »
Quotes Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: [answering the phone] Tommy?
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: Dad! How long is this one gonna be?
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: Shouldn't be too late.
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: Are you sure?
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: I'm positive.
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: Only fools are positive.
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: Are you sure?
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: I'm positive.
See more »
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