FAIL-SAFE

Directed by Sidney Lumet
Starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau

(1964) “That will be the sound of your phone melting.” President Henry Fonda desperately gets on the Moscow Hotline after our bombers get the very wrong message, as think tanker Walter Matthau assesses potential damage. Expressionistic camerawork, intense long takes alternating with sharp montages, even the most painful of freeze frames: what Strangelove was to black humor, this is to suspense, and ultimately gut-wrenching horror. 35mm. Approx. 111 min.
12:30, 4:45, 9:10

“Packs a melodramatic wallop that will rattle a lot of chattering teeth.”
– Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

THE BEST MAN

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, and Lee Tracy

(1964) Decent candidate Henry Fonda is pitted against stop-at-nothing ultra-right-winger Cliff Robertson in the race for president, but which one will feisty ex-prez Lee Tracy endorse? Tracy’s sole Oscar-nominated performance was his swan song. Screenplay by Gore Vidal. 35mm. Approx. 102 min.
2:40, 7:00