Monday, February 13, 2006

Help yourself to our cold war combo: "Fail-Safe" and "Dr. Stranglelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

Talk about great timing. In the span of a week or so, TCM had a movie that showed how the 1960s arms race between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. could go horribly wrong, then a satire of that very situation. Seems a natural to tackle both in one post, especially since we have the bizarre circumstance of the satire hitting screens before the straightforward drama. For the purposes of this discussion, though, we'll take the serious before the silly.

Fail-Safe
It all seems so quaint now, the worries about Communism, "Russkies," the Red Menace and general fear of Marxists ruining the good old American way of life. Sure, "Good Night, and Good Luck" serves as a reminder of the paranoia that built during the '50s. But in this era of suicide bombers, dirty bombs, etc. the idea of a nuclear holocaust is about as hip as a hula hoop. Hell, even "WarGames" seems way out of date, and not just because of those big floppy disks.

Still, "Fail-Safe" is a taut thriller with a few familiar faces. In short, a computer malfunction has led a U.S. bomber to fly toward the Soviet Union, where it is supposed to hit Moscow. As you might imagine in a time when tensions are high, nobody is particularly happy about this, and we get all sorts of uncomfortable maneuverings by Americans and Russians to stop the wayward bomber.

While some actors are obvious -- Peter Fonda as the President, Dan O'Herlihy as Gen. Black -- others were hard to recognize at first. A lot of people point to funnyman Dom DeLuise in a minor role, but we also get a congressman played by Sorrell "Boss Hogg" Booke. But the most fun was when I finally recognized who played the President's translator: Larry "J.R." Hagman. And he was really good, too.

Then there's Walter Matthau, before the "Odd Couple" and "Bad News Bears" solidified his comedy bonafides. Here, he's actually a creepy civilian military advisor who goes toe-to-toe with O'Herlihy in pushing for U.S. commitment to war. It's really strange -- not only seeing Matthau do drama, but be such a cold dickhead.

Ultimately, "Fail-Safe" delivers some good suspense despite that era being long gone, especially since the ending is something of a surprise. Not sure I totally bought it, and I also thought Fonda wasn't the best pick for the President, if only because he seems to decent -- see "12 Angry Men" -- to be a politician. Even so, not a bad little thriller.

Dr. Stranglelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
"Fail-Safe" came out Oct. 7, 1964. "Dr. Strangelove" came out Jan. 26, 1964. That's right, more than eight months before the very movie it seems to spoof. If that's not weird, I don't know what is. I mean, was "Fail-Safe" director Sidney Lumet throwing fits? "They're making fun of my movie, and it isn't even out yet!"

Regardless, "Strangelove" remains incredibly hilarious (a) even if you haven't seen "Fail-Safe" and (b) to this day, period. Like I said above, with the Cold War somewhat dated, it's easier to accept the paranoia when it's portrayed as outrageous. Say what you want about Stanley Kubrick -- "Eyes Wide Shut" managed to make an orgy seem boring -- but the guy had his moments, perhaps none finer than "Strangelove."

The story is roughly the same as "Fail-Safe," with one difference: The attack on Russia was deliberately ordered by a crazy general. Still, the President and his cronies need to fix it, and that leads to a host of great scenes and lines. Curiously, though, the title character wasn't the focal point or funniest person on screen.

Strangelove is played by Peter Sellers, who also plays the President and a British officer stationed with the crazy general. His Strangelove -- with accent modeled after Kissinger -- is amusing, and it's also fun to watch his British officer try to manage the general's insanity and then contact the President. But for my money, Sellers was at his best playing the Commander in Chief amid this madness. His call with Soviet Premier Kissoff remains a classic. "I'm sorry, too, Dmitri... I'm very sorry... All right, you're sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well... I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri! Don't say that you're more sorry than I am, because I'm capable of being just as sorry as you are... So we're both sorry, all right? ... All right."

Sellers might be enough, but we also get three other fantastic characters:
1. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden): The aforementioned crazy general, whose paranoia becomes hilariously evident when he starts rambling about the need to protect "precious bodily fluids," which are threatened, of course, by flouridation. "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual."
2. Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott): The hawk who doesn't trust the Russians and has the hardest time doing anything about the wayward bomber, including letting the Russian ambassador into the war room. "I mean, he'll see everything, he'll ... he'll see the Big Board!"
3. Maj. T.J. "King" Kong (Slim Pickens): Captain of the bomber, and a bonafide cowboy. He ride a bomb on its descent in what may be the most iconic image, but here's a fun fact: Pickens apparently was told to play the movie straight, meaning his yeehaw act isn't an act. Now that's comedy.

It's really an amazing set of performances in a killer script. If forced to choose, I probably liked Scott the best, although Hayden was really good in a deadpan role. In any case, this is one of the best black comedies ever, with or without "Fail-Safe" as a companion. And really, when you think about it, have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?

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