Loopy Presidential Nightmare

Fail-Safe (1964)

Starring: Jack Lemon, Ernest Borgnine Directed by: Sidney Lumet Rating: NR Genre: Drama Other

Review Confusing cold-war drama that staggers from one strange idea to the next. President Jack Lemon accidentally pushes the Big Button, then desperately tries convince Russian President Ernest Borgnine (McHale's Navy) that it was HIS fault! There's some smirking juvenile nonsense about a general afraid of his own urine, a scientist with a skin disease, a cowboy who tries to mate with a nuclear device and a sexy secretary who dances the froog whenever the bombers pass another line of longitude. What to make of this? Is it sacriligeous to democracy? That's not for me to say, but I will say this: America is a country where even a British person can make fun of it. Can the United Kingdoms make that statement?