SPOILERS-
The first time I saw it, I kept yelling at her to tell him something very personal, that only they would have known.
Sure, he still had his orders to ignore anything he hears, but maybe . just maybe, something might have clicked.
Shows how effective this film was in getting that furious, frustrated reaction from me.
Did this ever occur to anyone else?
It certainly did.
Nomad
Yes, I just watched this film again on TCM and was thinking exactly that during that scene - wife, tell him to ask something very personal, anything, that only she would know - and I've seen this many times. I still get worked up during that scene; it's very frustrating - it's like one right word from her could have averted the nuclear strikes (2). One new thing I noted: she mentions how "they" could never force her to lie to him, as if she may have been captured and forced to call him. But, before this, I always figured he thinks she is dead along with all other Americans due to nuclear blasts and that she is being mimicked by the Soviets. I don't see how she could be captured in a nuclear scenario such as this.
shareWell I don't think that would've mattered. I don't think he doubts that it's really his wife. The point is, his orders are to ignore verbal commands, period.
shareWell I don't think that would've mattered. I don't think he doubts that it's really his wife. The point is, his orders are to ignore verbal commands, period.
the irony was that it was Grady who had been complaining about how the new recruits were like machines--no soul, no heart. Yet he went by the book and ignored his wife. But yes--this scene is weak for the reasons given above--the wife could've said something only her husband would've known about. (it's also not completely clear if he thinks it IS his wife).
shareHe HAD to know she was really his wife; I can understand him ignoring the president, who any impressionist worth his salt could've imitated. But how would the Soviets have found a woman to impersonate an American housewife who one assumes was not in public life?
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
You're right - sort of. I see this as Grady not wanting to look bad in front of his machine-like crew - his crew that had had all the humanity trained out of them. Turning the plane around would be seen as a sign of incredible weakness in that situation, and he couldn't take that. The humanity had essentially been trained out of him, too.
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
I don't buy this. I don't believe that he would think "this was a mistake, the president and my wife are telling the truth and are desperately hoping I will listen, but I'm just bullheadedly going to go ahead anyway". I think he may be unsure, but if he were convinced his wife was legit and not speaking under duress, he would stop the bombing run. Which then, yes, does make it frustrating that she didn't do a better job.
shareDeluge: Yes, I just watched it, and the scene is maddening, especially as Grady had early on been the voice of the common man. It might have been a better written scene but maybe it's just as well she didn't reference that tattoo on his right arm, where they spent their honeymoon, the great time they spent at Coney Island when they were supposed to go to Atlantic City instead but the rainy weather prevented it, and all those dancing midgets singing cowboy songs they saw there, every one of them dressed like Roy Rogers (etc., etc.). Something, anything to move him, jar him, wake Grady up from the sleep of military unreason.
Anther problem with the scene: Mrs Grady ought to have been coached. She's hysterical throughout the scene, which is enough to make any man not want to listen. But Grady's automaton-like behavior once he was airborne is one of the ironic aspects of the movie that lifts it way above the ordinary (and then some). I've never read the novel Fail-Safe was based on, but I'm assuming much of what was in the script came from the book. Downside: Cascio's iminent breakdown is practically telegraphed very early on. Even the first time viewer could spot that. Upside, and more irony: Gen. Black's nightmare that the film opens with, and his stunning, tragic realization of its meaning at the end. Fail-Safe, the movie, is an impressive achievement.
telegonus -
Always great to check in.
The first time I saw this, I was so tensed-up, I was literally screaming at her to tell Grady something very personal, like some nutty old friend with a weird nickname, her cat's name; etc. Something so private that only they would know.
And if (from Grady's perspective)the US had been nuked (as they were led to believe), then how could she have ever been captured by the Soviets, and forced to lie to him? How would they know her voice, knowing it so well that they could imitate it?
But he is the cold & tough professional who must bend to all the rules.
I did read the book many moons ago, but I can't recall that scene from it.
And the ending had me totally stunned. I even went on staring at the test pattern, wondering if it would then resume. It didn't. Had that same nightmare reaction at the end of INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. I was yelling at the TV to tell me what the hell happened to him. I often found those 'abrupt endings' to be very effective. Like when it ends sooner than you thought. A few Thriller episodes used that.
Still prefer Failsafe over Strangelove.
Lumet's directing was excellently taut. Had you from start to finish, then left you alone and wondering. Can't recall any recent movies that achieved this. Now it has to be one epilogue after another.
Yeah, this is always fun Deluge, even if Fail-Safe is anything but. Grady was at the breaking poing given what he knew,--which was very little--so I suppose he had to consider the worst case scenario viz. his wife and discard her pleas. I'm guessing that comes with the territory of being an air force bomber pilot. He had no way of knowing the truth. Fail-Safe was not a good system in this regard, as the film shows us, as while it can deal with the military-wartime aspects of what pilots have to contend with it does not take into effect the human factor, as in "what if all else fails?". Even the freakin' president can't stop the bombs from falling!
I stayed up late to watch Mr. George on Thriller, which is why I'm up so damn late. As always, it played beautifully. The actors, especially Virginia Gregg and Howard Freeman, were superb, and Gina Gillespie, while some have called her performance syrupy (!), strikes just the right notes for me. Speaking of notes, Jerry Goldsmith's score for the episode was one of the best he wrote for Thriller, totally different from all the others, it evoked an America of an earlier, simpler time, captured the innocence if childhood. The man had major talent. Special praise should also go to Ida Lupino for her perfect direction of the episode. Yes, this is not the Thriller board but I think hijacking one thread isn't too awful.
In the 2000 remake they used the pilot's 8 year old son in stead of his wife. The boy talked about his pet salamander. I thought this was way more effective.
shareI'm interested in checking out the remake. Knew they made a few minor changes. Obviously, his son couldn't convince him, even with his salamander. Did he give it a nickname?
When Clooney's kid told him about the pet salamander, that was at the beginning of the movie right before Clooney takes off from the Anchorage base to go on airborne alert patrol. The kid didn't mention the salamander at the end when the Air Force officers went to his house and put him in voice contact with his Dad who was minutes away from bombing Moscow. In that latter scenario, Clooney and his son went through their secret catch phrase about "Are you sure?" "I'm positive." "Only fools are positive." "Are you sure?" "I'm positive!"
shareI thought about it too, but there's this possibility: the Soviets have kidnapped his wife, children, etc. and have instructed her to say something very personal that only she would know. This could have been part of his training, to consider such possibilities.
shareWhat I wonder is the purpose of calling in that last time. Is it to update Omaha on their status? Get alternate orders? They are instructed to call in for a reason. Is it even possible they could be given order to bomb an alternate site, sparing Moscow?
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