This Henry Fonda Movie Was Sabotaged by the Government

Let's back up. Henry Fonda had already been a massive star for decades. We're talking The Grapes of Wrath, 12 Angry Men, Young Mr. Lincoln, and then later On Golden Pond—which, by the way, was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1981, right behind Raiders of the Lost Ark. The guy was Hollywood royalty.

And buried in that filmography is Fail Safe, a 1964 Cold War thriller that's honestly one of his most underrated films. Directed by Sidney Lumet—the same guy who did 12 Angry Men—it's about a nuclear bomber that receives the wrong orders and believes it's supposed to attack the Soviet Union. Fonda plays the President, trying to stop the end of the world in real time.

Now here's where it gets messy. Fail Safe had the misfortune of being released at the exact same time as Dr. Strangelove. Same basic setup. Same Cold War panic. Except Strangelove went full black comedy, and Fail Safe played it straight.

Kubrick didn't like that. At all. He thought Fail Safe was ripping him off, so he teamed up with the guy who wrote Red Alert—the book Strangelove was based on—and they sued Lumet's film for plagiarism. The lawsuit settled out of court, but the damage was done. Columbia Pictures had the rights to both films… and Kubrick insisted his came out first. They agreed.

Lumet later said, "We opened to no audience whatsoever. You have to look silly after the comedy version has come out."

But wait—it gets even worse. The U.S. government hated the movie too. High-ranking Air Force brass called it dangerous and inaccurate. General Curtis LeMay—also known as "Bombs Away LeMay"—went on the record saying, "The incidents in Fail Safe are deliberate lies."

So between Kubrick kneecapping the release and the military trashing it in public, Fail Safe never had a chance. Which is a shame, because it's a damn good movie. And Fonda is incredible in it.