Fail-Safe
Sidney Lumet
American, 1924–2011
1964
A black-and-white still from Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film Fail‑Safe showing a bomber pilot in his cockpit, made to dramatize the human and bureaucratic terror of an accidental nuclear crisis.
The image hits with a tight, shadowed close-up—the pilot’s worn face set against helmet and oxygen mask, a conspicuous “TOP SECRET” tag and cramped cockpit framing that create a claustrophobic, documentary-like intensity.
As a Cold War film, Fail‑Safe helped popularize a sober, procedural mode for representing technological failure and moral decision-making under pressure, shaping later portrayals of nuclear anxiety and command‑and‑control crises.
Classification
Department
Credit
Restored with funding from the Sony Pictures Entertainment/Columbia Pictures preservation program
Accession
F399
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
