The bedford incident -cold war film

[Trool323]

A great Cold war film every sub head should see once.

DIRECTOR: James B. Harris
YEAR: 1965

Richard Widmark is a combative and abusive US Navy destroyer Captain who decides to play a game of nuclear cat-and-mouse with a Russian sub off the coast of Greenland. Sidney Poitier is a reporter along for the ride. Wally Cox, James MacArthur and Donald Sutherland are part of the crew. This film contains one of the great final scenes in Atomic Film.

See the trailer -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbnqogVI738

http://www.conelrad.com/conelrad100/images/bedfordincident_poster.gif

[Sailor Steve]

Saw it in the theater when it was released, and hated it.

But I was fifteen at the time, and didn't know anything. Maybe it's time to give it another chance...:sunny:

[Randomizer]

It's worth another look if only for the Cold War theme. Excellent flick even if the special effects are unimpressive even for that era.

[Jimbuna]

I always thought the end was too stunning and tbh a tad disappointing :hmmm:

[Randomizer]

In the context of the Cold War as it was it pretty much had to end that way.

Apperantly it had to be filmed in the UK and on a sound stage because Hollywood would not touch the story with a ten-foot pole and the USN refused the producers all filming assistance. I think that was in the intro last time it showed up on Turner Classic Movies. Same sort of thing with Dr. Strangelove except there the USAF shunned it and would not allow it to be screened on any SAC base.

[Kaye T. Bai]

Looks pretty interesting, I'll see if I can find it at a retailer, preferably on BD-ROM.

[Jimbuna]

In the context of the Cold War as it was it pretty much had to end that way.

Apperantly it had to be filmed in the UK and on a sound stage because Hollywood would not touch the story with a ten-foot pole and the USN refused the producers all filming assistance. I think that was in the intro last time it showed up on Turner Classic Movies. Same sort of thing with Dr. Strangelove except there the USAF shunned it and would not allow it to be screened on any SAC base.

Yeah, but it was hardly a shootout fitting the end of your usual war movie....sailor not paying attention is suddenly galvanised by the misinterpratation/context a a single word then the wake of torpedoes seen approaching....close the curtain :hmmm::DL

[Sailor Steve]

Same sort of thing with Dr. Strangelove except there the USAF shunned it and would not allow it to be screened on any SAC base.
For another air force movie from the era, but more in line with the serious tone of Bedford, check out Fail-Safe sometime.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058083/

Apparently the 2000 remake was very good too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235376/

[Randomizer]

Yeah, but it was hardly a shootout fitting the end of your usual war movie....sailor not paying attention is suddenly galvanised by the misinterpratation/context a a single word then the wake of torpedoes seen approaching....close the curtain :hmmm::DL
Real world experiance, during a live fire exercise the battery was laid, loaded and ready to fire the next serial in the fireplan. The young Gun Position Officer while relaying a situation report from the observers said "Guns, fire very effective on the last serial." However, as soon as he said the "F" word three of the four guns commenced firing and got off several rounds until he could get Check Firing acknowledged. Mine was one of them so I can see how the thing could happen when you're perhaps a bit too focused.

@SS
Yes, Fail-Safe is a superb movie and the USAF refused to cooperate with the producers so the B-58 Hustler was transformed into the fictional "Vindicator" for the aircraft action sequences. I first saw it as a kid in 1966 or so and it scared the crap out of me.

[sharkbit]

@SS
Yes, Fail-Safe is a superb movie and the USAF refused to cooperate with the producers so the B-58 Hustler was transformed into the fictional "Vindicator" for the aircraft action sequences. I first saw it as a kid in 1966 or so and it scared the crap out of me.

Scary part is that it may not be too far fetched. A couple of times, NORAD had a computer failure which almost caused a few problems:

A quote from Wikipedia:

Even though all equipment in Cheyenne Mountain was put through a rigorous inspection, on at least two occasions, failure in its systems could have potentially caused nuclear war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare). On November 9, 1979, a technician in NORAD loaded a test tape but failed to switch the system status to "test", causing a stream of constant false warnings to spread to two "continuity of government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_of_government)" bunkers as well as command posts worldwide. A similar incident occurred on June 2, 1980, when a computer communications (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networking) device failure caused warning messages to sporadically flash in U.S. Air Force command posts around the world that a nuclear attack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare) was taking place. Both times, Pacific Air Forces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Pacific_Air_Forces) properly had their planes (loaded with nuclear bombs) in the air; Strategic Air Command (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Air_Command) did not and took criticism because they did not follow procedure, even though the SAC command knew these were almost certainly false alarms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_alarm) (as did PACAF). Both command posts had recently begun receiving and processing direct reports from the various radar, satellite, and other missile attack detection systems, and those direct reports simply didn't match anything about the erroneous data received from NORAD.


Here's the link to the full Wiki article on NORAD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Aerospace_Defense_Command

:)

[sharkbit]

For another air force movie from the era, but more in line with the serious tone of Bedford, check out Fail-Safe sometime.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058083/

Apparently the 2000 remake was very good too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235376/

Very good movie. Henry Fonda's performance as the President was very good.

Remake was good. IIRC it was presented live. (I guess I could check out your link :shucks:).
EDIT-Yep, it was presented live.

:)

[Randomizer]

Missed the 2000 remake and given the quality of the original can't see why they bothered.

For one view of the Strategic Air Command and the movie Dr. Strangelove see:

http://www.strategic-air-command.com/gallery/movies/dr_strangelove.htm

[Harmsway!]

I ordered the The Bedford Incident on DVD last month. Watched it for the first time when it came in. I liked it. Not the kind of movie I would recommend to anyone outside of these forums though.

Sure it was about the cold war but the story was also about a captain who didn't understand his crew. In a sense he neglected his command. This in itself could lead in a larger discussion on true leadership.

Steve I think your life experience now will allow you to view The Bedford Incident differently then when you were 15.

[vienna]

I remember the NORAD test tape incident; at the time it was reported that the false warning was sent not only to NORAD facilities but, also, to national and local radio and television stations. The odd and disturbing part of the story is that none of the stations broadcast the warning since almost all of them assumed that it was only a test. Only a handful of stations even bothered to ask of NORAD if it was indeed a test. This episode led to a mjor revision of the protocols for the warning system.