Watching "Fail Safe" on TCM

[unionworks]

Any other boomers with memories of the atomic age?

[cyberswede]

1. Before my time, but

the movie is great!

I do remember seeing "Duck and Cover," but I saw it in the 80s on late-night cult tv.

[unionworks]

2. up until about 5th grade

...we actually DID "duck and cover". Did you see the "turtle" cartoon?

[MrScorpio]

3. We did that too

We once hid in the bomb shelter of my elementary school once.

To this day, I have no idea what that was all about

[unionworks]

4. It was about

1. Take shelter beneath desk or table.
2. Tuck head between your legs.
3. Kiss your ass goodbye.

[Iggo]

5. I was born in '61 and we called it "butts up squealing".

There was an air-raid siren in our town and I don't remember how often it went off, but I woudn't be surprised if it was once a month.

[rogerballard]

14. Duck and Cover

[unionworks]

15. Duck! no, it's a turtle!

[eppur_se_muova]

6. People my age will say "OMG, that's Larry Hagman!" ...

younger generations will wonder "who the Hell is Larry Hagman?".

[Motown_Johnny]

7. I'm 48

So I remember some of it, not like hack in the 50's though

[unionworks]

8. I grew up

In a steel mill town near Pittsburgh. Until the 80s, they tested the siren every single Saturday at noon. It was a damn chilling sound.

[Motown_Johnny]

18. When I lived in NY, I lived in a small town

and I didn't know it when I rented the apartment but the siren was right across the street.

This was 1989.

[Taverner]

9. How about an Xer with memories of the SECOND atomic age?

[TheMightyFavog]

10. Iremember seeing the CBS Live remake

With Jerry Stiller, George Clooney, Noah Wylie and Richard Dreyfuss

[Lionel Mandrake]

11. Warning: "Fail Safe" is dangerous to your mental health.

Quick! Take the antidote before it's too late.

If you watch "Dr. Strangelove" soon enough after watching "Fail Safe", you should make a complete and full recovery.

[unionworks]

12. How I learned

To stop worrying and love the bomb.

[kentauros]

16. Or you could watch "The Atomic Cafe"

[Lionel Mandrake]

22. Excellent choice!

These statements were made without intentional irony:

"When not close enough to be killed, the atomic bomb is one of the most beautiful sights in the world."

"Be sure to include tranquilizers to ease the strain and monotony of life in a fallout shelter. A bottle of 100 should be sufficient for a family of four. Tranquilizers are not a narcotic, and are not habit-forming."

The potential for black humor was fully realized in this movie.

[dana_b]

13. I'm not a boomer

but I love that movie.

[sarge43]

17. Lots of memories and none of them good ones.

Stupid duck and cover exercises,
watching the A-Bomb tests on the News of the Day shorts at the movies,
listening to the Sputnik beeps and knowing the USSR had ICBM capability,
during the Cuban Missile go around, first shirt telling us our base was a primary target and we were sitting tight,
listening to the Looking Glass take off at midnight
watching Buffs with H-bombs in their bellies take off
Disaster Control exercises "How long can we wear these suits before we start to dehyderate?" "About an hour."
Sitting 50 miles from a Warsaw Pact border, knowing if shit happened we'd be rolled like a cheap rug.
Listening to Raygun joke about first strike
And much, much more

"The living will envy the dead" and "Our lives are depended upon Soviet computer technology."

During the Cold War an imagination was unpleasant

[Lionel Mandrake]

23. Remembering the Raygun

?w=358&h=489

[Adsos Letter]

19. Oh, heck yeah! Add "Seven Days in May" to your viewing list.

[kiva]

20. Oh yeah, watched this in class in junior high...

come to think of it, what the hell was THAT teacher thinking?

I've only seen part of the remake, the end, but it looked pretty intense too.

[Ptah]

21. Oh yeah. Born in 1950.

I remember Sputnik, and the science push in schools after.

And from 1970 to 1974, worked on the B-52 avionics.