Clooney returns to TV in innovative Fail-Safe
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from April 2000.
Brought to you by
© TVData Features Syndicate When the Cold War raged, two countries had nuclear arsenals. Now at least 13 nations have the deadly potential. Nuclear obliteration, however, no longer weighs on people's minds. That could change Sunday, April 9, after CBS airs Fail-Safe.
The plot of the thriller, a remake of the Henry Fonda movie of the same name, is as terrifying as when it hit theaters in 1964. The surprise here - besides the ending, which we won't reveal is that this version, starring George Clooney and filmed in black and white, will be broadcast live on the East Coast. It may be a question of semantics as to whether a movie can be live or if it automatically becomes a play. Since Playhouse 90 ended in 1960, other networks occasionally aired live shows. Fanfare surrounded the live episode of ER that kicked off the 1997 season. That episode, like Fail-Safe, was Clooney's idea. In Fail-Safe, a U.S. bomber is en route to drop a bomb on Moscow because of a snafu. The error is realized early, and the movie focuses on heads of state and military brass in both countries working feverishly to avert global catastrophe. "It's my favorite film of all time," Clooney says. "I have posters of it, and for years I've made all my friends watch it. I don't think you should remake a good film. A lousy film you can remake. But doing it as a play, you can do.... The aspect of it being live adds to the tension." This marks Clooney's return to television since leaving ER at the end of last season.
"I just did this because I can," says Clooney, who's also executive producer of the movie. "I couldn't come back and do a movie of the week. That would be dumb for me to do." Realizing that big-screen success could be fleeting, he quickly adds, "Someday I might have to." Clooney, who worked on his father's variety show as the floor director when he was 12, loves live TV. "It's like watching the Indy 500," he says. "You want tosee somebody screw up. My dad wrote an article about it and said you watch the Indy 500 to see people risk the wrecks and to win, to succeed. And that's why he grew up living and loving live TV. And that's why I've always enjoyed it." The president is the movie's most memorable role, but Clooney says he realized that at 38 he wouldn't effectively portray him. Instead, Richard Drey-fuss plays the commander in chief. Other cast members include Harvey Keitel, Hank Azaria and Brian Dennehy. ER star Noah Wyle plays Buck, the translator. Wyle asked a Russian friend to translate the lines Buck translates. And he worked on his Slavic pronunciation. "I have to make sure I can translate as fast as he's talking," Wyle says. "You will be able to hear a Russian voice on the other end of my headset." Because of such painstakingpreparations, Wyle is not nervous about performing live. "I don't want to sound cocky, and I'm setting myself up for major failure here, but I pride myself on being a very prepared actor," he says.
Walter Bernstein, screenwriter for the original movie, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era, returned to pen this version of the script. "I feel very lucky, really, that one of the movies I've done can really work for television," Bernstein says. "Most of the scenes are relatively confined. They've got a wonderful cast. ... Maybe in 37 years, we will do it again."
