Seven Days in May

Plot synopsis:
(Monday, 12 May) The United States is in a state very close to turmoil. Strikes threaten to shut down the entire coal industry--and on Pennsylvania Avenue (still open in front of the White House in the film setting), two opposing forces of demonstrators meet, first in stony silence, then with taunts shouted back and forth. One side carries signs offering thanks to President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March) for signing a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. ("Peace On Earth Or No Earth At All" says a double-wide banner.) The other carries bellicose signs denouncing Lyman and the treaty, and promoting the possible Presidential candidacy of a four-star Air Force general: James Mattoon Scott (Burt Lancaster), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then a Scott fan swings his sign to cut the double-wide banner. Result: mélée, to which the Capitol Police respond at once with cruisers, motorcycles, and paddy wagons.Inside the White House, the President's physician (Malcolm Atterbury) notes that Lyman's blood pressure climbs by three millimeters of mercury for every letter he dictates. Aide Paul Girard (Martin Balsam) reluctantly shares with Lyman a Gallup Poll result showing that only 29 percent of the American people approve of the treaty. To the desperate pleas of the physician that he take two weeks off, Lyman says that he will take a swim in the White House swimming pool.Lyman asks Senator Raymond Clark, D-Ga. (Edmund O'Brien) to join him. Lyman has two things to tell Clark. One is his rationale for the treaty: that absent that treaty, the hair-trigger status quo would only get worse, and inevitably some hatred-crazed officer, on either side, might initiate a full nuclear strike, maybe with authorization, possibly without, and the resulting war would end in Pyrrhic victory. The other is some advice to Clark: lay off the sauce. Ray Clark is, quite simply, an alcoholic.Clark takes his leave of the President and returns to Capitol Hill and a meeting of the Senate Committee on the Armed Services. (Today such a meeting would take place in the Russell Senate Office Building.) General Scott is the key witness. He insists that the treaty is "at best, an act of naïveté, and at worst an unsupportable negligence." Senator Frederick Prentice, R-Calif. (Whit Bissell), the chairman, is inclined to sympathize and to throw softball questions at Scott. Clark ridicules the proceedings ("a bad Gilbert and Sullivan") and frequently spars with his chairman and with Scott. Very clearly, Scott cannot persuade anyone who does not already agree with him.Scott does enjoy the almost unquestioning devotion of his senior administrative assistant, Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey, USMC (Kirk Douglas). As the two men make their way out of the Russell Building to Constitution Avenue for a drive back to the Pentagon, Scott instructs Casey that no one on Capitol Hill, or in the press, is to know about an alert planned for the upcoming Sunday (18 May). "This one must be deep and dark," he says.Back at the Pentagon, Casey checks into the E-ring and goes to the office complex of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There he chats with a young officer in All-service Radio, Lt. (jg) Dorsey Grayson USN (Jack Mullaney). Grayson gives Casey some gossip: that General Scott has sent a message to "nothing but the cream", asking them to place their bets for the upcoming Preakness race. The recipients are: the commander of Vandenberg AFB; commander, SAC (Omaha, NE); ComSixthFleet (Gibraltar); Commander-in-chief, Pacific Theater; and commander, First Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC. The only man to send in a no-bet message: Vice-Admiral Farley C. Barnswell USN (John Houseman), ComSixthFleet.Casey goes on to his office, where he next meets Colonel William "Mutt" Henderson USA (Andrew Duggan), a member of the Army's Signal Corps. Henderson tells Casey that he is exec of EComCon, a secret unit based at a "Site Y" near El Paso, TX. Casey has never heard of EComCon, but draws Henderson out. Henderson reveals that his commanding officer is Colonel John Broderick USA (John Larkin), an officer that Casey has always regarded with suspicion of harboring neo-Nazi attitudes, particularly toward what an army ought to be. Henderson also reveals that EComCon has 100 officers and 3600 enlistees--and has been training more often for seizure than for prevention, as if the assets that EComCon is tasked to guard are already in enemy hands, and EComCon has to repossess them.General Scott's aide-de-camp, Colonel Murdock (Richard Anderson), interrupts the two by sending Henderson to another office. He then tells Casey that he should not discuss the alert with Henderson. Casey then, on a wild hunch, starts trying to draw out Murdock on Scott's Preakness pool. To his surprise, Murdock becomes terrifically angry and lets Casey know, in no uncertain terms, that he ought not to stick his nose into "the General's personal business!" As soon as Murdock leaves, Casey calls the Pentagon operator and asks whether she has a listing for EComCon. The answer: negative.That night, Casey goes to a party at the home of Stewart Dillard (Charles Watts). There he has a run-in with Girard, who protests Scott's belligerent appearance before SASC earlier that day. Senator Prentice butts in, taunts Girard over the treaty, then tries to goad Casey into talking out-of-school about what the military thinks of the treaty. This Casey will not do. Before things get seriously out-of-control, Dillard shows up and escorts Girard to meet "the wife of the Indian Ambassador."To Casey's immense relief, the next guest to speak to him has more pleasant things to say. This is Eleanor Holbrook (Ava Gardner), who until recently has been General Scott's squeeze. Now he has apparently dumped her, and she is trying to drown her sorrows in booze, a thing that Casey tries to put a stop to. Casey then agrees to see Ellie on a social basis.But before Casey can keep the nightcap date, Prentice, clearly not through, button-holes Casey and shoots his mouth off: "We all have to stay on the alert, especially on Sunday." Casey cannot let that rest. He apologizes profusely to Ellie, then sets out for Fort Myer, General Scott's headquarters. What to his wondering eyes should appear but Senator Prentice' automobile, parked outside of General Scott's official residence, and Senator Prentice getting out of his car and letting an orderly escort him into the residence--at 2345 hours.(Tuesday 13 May) The next morning, Casey reports to work, to review some footage from the last all-service alert, run in January. Scott is clearly not satisfied, saying that the military's response is way too slow. He then asks Casey to "stay close" and be available after the JCS meeting. Casey notices that Scott is tired, and asks Scott whether he got to bed late. Scott answers that he "went to bed too early, slept from eight to eight, too much sleep. I may never wake up." Clearly, that's a lie.After the meeting, Casey notes that the Chief of Staff of the Navy was not present at the meeting. He idly picks up a crumpled piece of paper from the desk of General Hardesty (Tyler McVey), Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The note reads: "Airlift EComCon 40 K212s to Site Y before 0700 Sunday. Chi, New York, LA, Utah." (The K-212 is a fictitious troop transport; no such aircraft exists on the military aircraft catalogue.) Scott tells Casey to keep secret the Preakness pool and Admiral Barnswell's refusal to participate. He then asks Casey to watch the broadcast from tonight's convention of the American Veterans' Order, which Scott will address.Grayson flags Casey on his way out, saying that he has just received a transfer to Pearl Harbor. He also reveals that Admiral Barnswell was indeed the only man to "poop out on the General's racing form."Casey does watch the AVO convention. Commentator Harold McPherson (Hugh Marlowe) introduces Scott, who addresses the meeting after the fashion of a politician, not a military officer. Casey has now seen enough. He calls the operator and asks for a connection to the White House.Casey goes to the White House and lays out everything before the President: EComCon (which, if it is a formal military abbreviation, could stand for Emergency Communications Control), its size, its ostensible mission, its probable mission ("training for seizure"), the Hardesty Note, the Preakness pool (and shipping Lt.-jg Grayson off to Hawaii when he revealed too much), Senator Prentice shooting his mouth off, Scott receiving Prentice late at night and then lying about how soon he went to bed that night, and finally that Congress is in recess, the Vice-President is on a goodwill tour of Italy, and the President has been asked to participate in the alert without the press. The upshot: General Scott is orchestrating a plot to take over the government. D-Day: Sunday, 18 May.Girard is not inclined to believe Casey. Girard also telephones Bill Condon at the Bureau of the Budget (after Casey leaves), and from him learns that no authority has ever appropriated funds for anything like EComCon. But the President will not discount the story. Hastily he assembles a task force, consisting of Girard, Supervisor Art Corwin (Bart Burns) of the Secret Service, Secretary of the Treasury Chris Todd (George Macready), Senator Raymond Clark, and Col. Jiggs Casey.(Wednesday 14 May) Chris Todd flatly does not believe in the plot, citing the absence of evidence for EComCon. Girard is inclined to agree with him. But the President cites the Navy being left out of the JCS meeting, the Hardesty Note, and what 3600 troops, aboard 40 K212 transports, could do. Art furthermore reveals Col. Broderick's Nazi-like attitudes, and Clark especially fears Scott's politician's manner.Finally, the President calls a halt to any further discussion. He lays out specific assignments. Chris Todd will coordinate at the White House. Art will recruit as many Secret Service agents as he needs to run tails on Generals Scott; Hardesty; Riley (William Challee), commandant of Marines; and Diefenbach (Robert Brubaker), chief of staff of the Army. Paul Girard will take a letter from the President to Gibraltar, confront Admiral Barnswell with it, and get his written reply. Ray Clark will go to El Paso, take a telephone number that Casey got from Col. Henderson, and "find that base." Casey will stay close to Scott and try to gather more information from him.Scott catches Casey looking up El Paso on the map. Whether Scott suspects Casey of compromising him, the film does not make clear--but Scott peremptorily gives Casey a seventy-two-hour leave.At Dulles Airport, Casey sees Clark off, but not before Clark instructs Casey to go see Ellie Holbrook, who might know more about Scott than anyone. As Casey prepares to leave with Art Corwin, they spot Harold MacPherson getting into a staff car belonging to Scott. The two men trail this car to a back alley, where apparently McPherson has met with Senator Prentice.(Thursday 15 May) President Lyman cancels all his appointments for the day. He also telephones Scott to tell him that he won't participate in the alert after all, but will go to his private island retreat on Blue Lake, Maine. (This is not the official Presidential retreat at Camp David; this is Jordan Lyman's private property.) Scott tells his secretary to hold his calls, while he calls Colonel Broderick at Site Y.Ray Clark makes it to El Paso an strikes up a conversation with a girl (Colette Jackson), who wonders why no soldiers have patronized the bar, though a base must be located nearby, as she and the bar owner see and hear planes flying in and out of a remote area at all hours. Clark gets into his automobile and drives down a desert road, and takes a turn-off. Then a helicopter drops out of the sky, and out steps a stone-faced guard, gun drawn, to arrest Clark.Paul Girard has made it to Gibraltar, and meets with Barnswell aboard his flagship (USS Kitty Hawk, CVAN 63). Barnswell breaks into a sweat, then agrees to write a detailed confession.Jiggs Casey goes to see Ellie Holbrook at her home. From her he gets a detailed and lurid story of her affair with Scott--in which Scott was so supremely sure of himself that he would write letters to her describing all the details of their relationship, none of which are safe for work. Casey then stuns and hurts Ellie by taking possession of the letters. Because he cannot tell her why he needs the letters, she assumes, incorrectly, that he came to collect them to spare Scott any embarrassment.(Friday 16 May) President Lyman screens some very damning footage shot from Blue Lake. Shown is a runabout reconnoitering the private island. In that runabout: Colonels Murdock and Broderick. That alone convinces Lyman, and Todd, that Scott and the others are indeed guilty.Todd heaps fulsome praise on Casey for securing Scott's lurid love letters. Casey makes no effort to hide his monumental distaste, and lets Todd know that he does not appreciate the inference. Lyman stops the nasty argument and assures Casey that, thanks to Paul Girard securing a written confession from Barnswell, he, Lyman, won't have to use the letters. But then Presidential secretary Esther Townsend (Helen Kleeb) brings in a dire message: Paul Girard is dead, killed in a crash of the airliner he was on. (The airline's name is "Trans-Ocean Airlines," but is probably TWA, given the era of the film's release.)Ray Clark, now detained at Site Y, bellows into a telephone to Senator Prentice that he will demand several explanations from him the next time he sees him. Colonel Broderick, now back from his errand to Blue Lake, tells Clark that he's not going anywhere for awhile, and leaves him a bottle of booze. Clark pours this down a sink drain after reading a newspaper account of Girard's death.Henry Whitney (Fredd Wayne), an attaché at the US Embassy in Madrid, visits the crash site looking for the personal effects of Girard and the one other listed American passenger.Back on Site Y, late at night, Colonel Henderson visits Clark in his locked room. Clark then tells Henderson that when he, Henderson, first told Jiggs Casey about EComCon, Jiggs had never heard of it. Jiggs then looked up EComCon and found no reference to it in JCS orders. Henderson sits down to listen as Clark tells him "the d____dest story you ever heard." Whereupon Henderson decides to take Clark off the base. He tries to go non-violently, but when a sergeant detains him near the base flight line, and the alarm sounds, Henderson decks the sergeant, drives over the barrier berm, and escapes with Clark.(Saturday 17 May) Henderson and Clark arrive at Dulles Airport. But when Clark calls the White House to report in, someone takes Henderson away as if Henderson never existed. The President later confirms that someone has seen Henderson driven into Fort Myer and confined to the stockade--incommunicado.The President calls Barnswell to try to trick him into an incriminating statement. The savvy Barnswell denies ever signing anything or handing anything to Girard.Chris Todd urges the President to arrest Scott, Hardesty, Riley, and Diefenbach right now. Lyman will not do this without evidence. Ray Clark urges Lyman to use the Scott Letters, but Lyman won't make up his mind to do that, either.Then Scott's plan begins to unravel. Scott is rehearsing the communications cutouts at Mount Thunder, when an aide tells him that General Barney Rutkowski (Ferris Webster) has gotten his wind up after ten of the K212 transports crossed his radar and then flew under it. The aid is afraid that the by-the-book Rutkowski will go straight to the President with what he knows.That is exactly what Rutkowski does. "Someone has a secret base near El Paso, and I should have been notified!" says the angry Rutkowski. He then says that thirty more transports were due to fly in the same general direction by 0700 Sunday--only now they're due by 2300 that night. The President orders Rutkowski to ground any aircraft going anywhere near El Paso, or flying out of it.Now Lyman summons Scott to the White House. At a late-night meeting, with no witnesses, Lyman confronts Scott with everything he knows: EComCon, the detention of Senator Clark, the collusion between Senator Prentice and Colonel Broderick, the very selection of Broderick (considering his attitudes), Broderick's reconnaissance of Lyman's Blue Lake island, the arrest-without-charge of Colonel Henderson, and the Preakness code. Then the two men debate one another's moral position. Scott insists that he could be elected by acclimation whenever he asked. Lyman stands on the Constitution, elections, and the very real possibility that the Soviets would attack at once upon sensing that the United States was falling to a military dictator. In the end, Lyman demands Scott's resignation, and those of Hardesty, Riley and Diefenbach, and says that he will announce that demand in a press conference the following afternoon.Scott passes Casey on his way out and leaves without a word. Lyman then comes out of the Oval Office, hands the Scott Letters to Casey, and tells them to give them back to Ellie.(Sunday 18 May) Scott's plans have gone more than a trifle awry. Obviously, the EComCon Airlift did *not* take place as planned. So Scott plans to tape a delayed broadcast "to take his case to the people." Hardesty, Riley and Diefenbach are highly dubious by this time, but Scott presses on.President Lyman begins his press conference, pre-empting the Preakness Race to do it. Then he delays it for half an hour, when Henry Whitney shows up--with the Barnswell statement, which Whitney did manage to recover from the wreckage of Paul Girard's doomed flight. (Girard had hidden it in a cigarette case that Lyman had given him as a special gift.) After ordering Whitney to keep the paper secret, Lyman has it copied out.Casey goes to the E-Ring to hand-deliver a copy of the Barnswell statement to Scott, together with Lyman's written demand for Scott's resignation. Scott accuses Casey of betraying him, and Casey accuses Scott of betraying his country and "disgrac[ing] the four stars on his uniform."Scott goes to a TV station to record his belligerent message. But before he can begin, a panicked Prentice and McPherson inform him that the President has a signed statement giving names and dates and implicating them all. Scott contemptuously dismisses the two men and returns to the E-Ring--where he overhears Lyman accepting the resignations of Hardesty, Riley and Diefenbach. Now utterly defeated, he gets back into his staff car and orders his driver to take him "home."Casey goes to see Ellie, who knows perfectly well why Casey took the Scott Letters. As he hands them back to her, she accepts Casey's word that the letters "might have been" "the bullets" to "[shoot down]" Scott, but weren't. The two agree to see each other again, after the excitement has died down.Lastly, Lyman declares that it is "slander" to suggest that the United States cannot be strong without directly waging war. He insists that world peace, and freedom, will come peaceably. With that, and a display of the Constitution, the film ends.

Tags: mystery

Review:
In the story, we have Gen. James Mattoon Scott, (Burt Lancaster) (in what certainly became a custom tailored role for him) who firmly believes that the president of the United States has criminally endangered the country by agreeing to a nuclear disarmament treaty.
Kirk Douglas is a Marine Colonel that suspects the Joint Chief of Staff Chairman(Burt Lancaster)of plotting a disguised military coup that would destroy the President's nuclear disarmament treaty.
Perhaps one of the most genuinely suspenseful films every made, this paranoic film should be seen in conjunction with its natural brethren, "The Parallax View" and "The Manchurian Candidate" (which is also directed by John Frankenheimer).The film's strength lies in a group of superb performance -- Burt Lancaster as the ramrod-stiff and egomaniacal general bent on saving the United States by planning the overthrow of the government; Kirk Douglas as his senior staff officer, who only gradually realizes what his boss is planning and just how dangerous he is; Fredric March as the world-weary President; and especially Edmond O'Brien as the souse of a Senator who, like March, demonstrates the kind of ingenuity and resolve that Lancaster and his co-conspirators assume they don't possess.
Intense and gravely serious, "Seven Days In May" tells the fictional story of a super-patriotic American General, a man named James Mattoon Scott (Burt Lancaster), who may, or may not, be plotting with others to overthrow the U.S. Government.
It was wisely filmed in black and white with virtually no obligatory special effects--all of which works terrifically as the drama is structured on character and plot, not military pyrotechnics, Serling's usual formula for success.While working at the Pentagon, Kirk Douglas (Colonel Jiggs Casey) accidentally uncovers a plot to stage a coup of the government masterminded by Gen. Matoon Scott (Burt Lancaster).
Colonel Casey ( Kirk Douglas ) discovers what appears to be plans by General Scott ( Burt Lancaster) who schemes a coup to use false military exercises in his plans to remove President Lyman (Fredric March) from government office.
The film's intrigue snowballs toward an exciting final .Extraordinary casting , all of whom give admirable acting , as a terrific Burt Lancaster who heads the all star cast , he plays as leader of the coup , magnificent Douglas as Colonel who learns about the malignant plans and Fredric March as upright President under pressure .
He took another opportunity to change to the big screen , collaborating with Burt Lancaster in The Young Savages (1961) and Birdman of Alcatraz(62) ending up becoming a successful director well-known by his skills with actors and expressing on movies his views on important social deeds and philosophical events and film-making some classics as ¨The Manchurian candidate, Seven days of May and The Train¨.
The final confrontations between Lancaster and March, then Lancaster and Douglas, are cinematic political drama at their finest.Based on the Charles Bailey/Fletcher Knebel novel of the same name, and brilliantly adapted to the screen by Rod Serling, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY benefits from the always superb acting of its all-star cast, which includes Martin Balsam, Ava Gardner, Whit Bissell, William Prince, and John Housemann, to name a few.
One of my favourite scenes not just in this film but in any political thriller is the tense scene between Kirk Douglas' Colonel "Jiggs" Casey, Frederic March's President Jordan Lyman and Martin Balsam's Presidential Chief of Staff Paul Girard when Kirk Douglas' character first outlines his suspicions to his initially sceptical interlocutors.
The film portrays an attempt to stage a military coup in America, which would appoint the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an air force general played with relentless and laser-like intensity by Burt Lancaster, as a new leader for the country.
A marvelous and wholly believable account of a military conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States after the President signs a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union against the wishes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.Rod Serling (known primarily for his work on "The Twilight Zone") wrote the screenplay for this wonderful movie, based on the book by Fletcher Knebel.
Serling masterfully builds the suspense from the very beginning and leaves the viewer hanging on every word, waiting to see how this plot is going to be stopped (or if it will succeed.)Burt Lancaster puts on a powerful performance as the megalomaniac General James Scott - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - who sees himself as the saviour of the nation opposing a weak and unpopular President (Frederic March, who does a good job of portraying a President perhaps a bit unsure how to handle the situation, but certain that he will not give in), and who is prepared to topple the democratically elected government to ensure that the President's disarmament treaty is stopped.
(In my opinion, the most powerful scene of the entire movie occurs near the end, as Scott and Casey disagree over which of them most closely resembles the biblical figure of Judas Iscariot.)Aside from an ending that was perhaps a bit anti-climatic there is very little to criticize in this movie, and it raises disturbing questions even today in the absence of the Cold War. What would happen if the democratically elected government set out on a course that powerful military figures genuinely believed would lead to the destruction of the country?
Those who choose fear and might over diplomacy.With Ocean's 13 in the movies theaters right now, featuring some of the best stars of today, this film featured some of the best of yesterday.Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry, From Here to Eternity, Atlantic City, Birdman of Alcatraz) as Gen. James Mattoon Scott, the leader of the coup; Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life, Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful) as Col. Martin 'Jiggs' Casey, the man who exposed the plot; Fredric March (The Best Years of Our Lives, A Star is Born, The Royal Family of Broadway, Death of a Salesman, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ) as President Jordan Lyman; Ava Gardner (Mogambo), one of the Sexiest Starts in Film History, as Eleanor 'Ellie' Holbrook, Scott's mistress; Edmond O'Brien (The Barefoot Contessa) as Sen. Raymond Clark (Nominated for Oscar) and Martin Balsam (A Thousand Clowns ) as Paul Girard.There were other great actors in the film, like John Houseman (Julius Caesar, The Paper Chase) and Leonard Nimoy (3 Emmy nominations for Star Trek), who were uncredited.
Burt Lancaster as the rebellious general, Kirk Douglas as the torn officer, and Frederic March as they embattled president present a very believable scenario of how a coup of the United States government might occur.
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY is a political thriller, that brings to us, in a realistic way, an attempt by several combative generals to take control of the Government in the United States during the crisis, which is caused by the Cold War. It is based on the novel of the same name by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W.
Such was the background of riveting plot of this great political thriller.As the movie opens, the president's Gallop poll is at an all time low (29%); the people are restless because President Jordan Lyman--note the similarity between the fictitious president's name and that of Lyndon Johnson--(Fredric March) is about to sign an agreement with the Soviets to ban nuclear weapons.
Burt Lancaster plays General Scott, head of the joint chiefs and likely presidential candidate who decides to lead a revolt against president Jordan Lyman, who is as unpopular as Scott is popular, but that doesn't stop him from pushing a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia, which alarms and enrages General Scott, convincing him that he can't wait two years until the next election; he must act now.
All three men are on a collision course to determine who stays in the White House, and emerges a "hero".Fine acting by the cast, and solid direction by John Frankenheimer make this thought-provoking political drama quite interesting, although it is marred somewhat by an overly simplistic(bordering on sanctimonious) approach to General Scott, who may really have a good point, even though he is going about it the wrong way.
In many ways, the film is an extremely accurate depiction of where the 60's were at (riots in the street, tensions between the Pentagon and the White House) and an extremely disturbing look at what could have happened had things manifested in such an ugly light.The most intriguing thing about this gem of a movie is the blessing it received from none other than the sitting President of the United States at the time of production, John F.
Right after his excellent post Korea war suspense film "The Manchurian Candidate", director John Frankenheimer surprised us again with this excellent "cold war" political thriller that deals with an intent of a popular Air Force General to overtake the Government of the United States because the pacifist President has signed a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union.I imagine this must have been a most original picture in the USA where you could even rank it as a sci-fi product.
From then on, the plot is very well handled by Frankenheimer with no flaws aided by a perfectly chosen black and white photography, good dialogues, a great atmosphere and an excellent cast in a film where action sequences are not the main issue.Burt Lancaster is very convincing as the messianic general that thinks he is the man that will save his Country and so is Kirk Douglas as the army colonel that finds out what is going on and though an admirer of Lancaster doesn't hesitate in deciding where his duty and loyalty have to be.
He uses deep focus effectively; two characters will be having a conversation in the foreground, but a third will be constantly in view in the background, as if to suggest that every whispered secret has the potential to be overheard.This style is fabulously on display in "Candidate" and is reprised here in "Seven Days in May." Frankenheimer makes great use in both films of TV screens: a character will be simultaneously in view of the film's camera and projected on a screen within the world of the film, giving the movie viewer different angles of the same scene both literally and figuratively; since media plays a role so frequently in his movies, Frankenheimer constantly draws our attention to its existence and the power it has to manipulate what we perceive to be the truth.As for the performances, there is no improving on Fredric March's understated interpretation of an ailing president, stuck in the dilemma of acting in what he thinks is the country's best interests even though the country itself is rejecting his beliefs.
And Edmond O'Brien won an Oscar nomination as a hot-tempered southern senator and friend to the president, somewhat curious since March's performance of all of them seems ripe for Academy consideration."Seven Days in May" isn't as taut a film as "The Manchurian Candidate," and it's more heavy handed in its political agenda (this severely dates the film), but it's still a rousing good time and comes highly recommended.Grade: A-.
2003/04 This is the fourth time, I have watched this movie over the years, and each time it just gets better; Its interesting, who could not be awed by Kirk Douglass as Colonel Jiggs Casey USMC and Burt Douglas as USAF Gen Scott the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.The thing that got me this time was that ( I am now 39,) the supporting characters, especially the phenomenal Frederic March as President Jordon Lyman,  Martin Balsam as Secretary Paul Gerrard, and the amazing Edmund O'Brien as the alcoholic but heroic Senator Ray Clark are outstanding.
Director John Frankenheimer's earlier "The Manchurian Candidate" is comfortably in my all time top 10 movies and this thriller, again set in the morally tainted world of contemporary American politics, is similarly exciting.For big-subject film-making like this I believe you have to go for A-list actors to engage and hold the audience and with the likes of Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner and Fredric March heading the cast, this is amply achieved.I see the film described as set in the near future but honestly I didn't pick up on this at all, instead given the monochrome filming style, contemporary fashions and modes of transport, it certainly seemed as if it was set in the present day.The context of course is the Cold War, as the incumbent president's new multilateral disarmament deal with the Soviets sees his public popularity plummet and right wing hawks in the military see an opportunity to usurp his position in what would effectively constitute a coup, under the leadership of charismatic war hero James Matoon Scott played by Burt Lancaster, in a strong, credible performance as we never see him in hectoring, eyes-popping, arms-waving mode.
He hasn't however reckoned with his believed loyal right-hand adjutant, played by Kirk Douglas, who from scraps of seemingly unrelated information gleans the magnitude of what is going on under his nose.Douglas puts patriotism before devotion to his revered boss and goes straight to the President, convincingly portrayed by Fredric March and from there it's a game of cat and mouse as the president sends two trusted envoys out to garner definitive proof of the coup although Douglas himself is later sidelined by a suspicious Lancaster and so effectively disappears for a major part of the movie.In a sub-plot before this however, Douglas is unwillingly sent to glean some background dirt with which to besmirch Scott's heretofore untainted public image by wining and dining the general's old mistress played by Ava Gardner to access incriminating correspondence between her and Scott to no doubt leak at the appropriate time, which questionable tactic seems only too topical now.The film moves inexorably to its grandstand confrontation between March and Lancaster as both their points of view are put forward before the viewer in convincingly argued if diametrically opposed speeches, although it could perhaps be argued that the president doesn't need the extra boost to his status which his knowledge about the general's love-letters gives him.
The war establishment, led by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Scott (Burt Lancaster), plot a military coup in seven days (hence the title).
A well rounded cast includes Martin Balsam, Edmond O'Brien, Andrew Duggan, Richard Anderson, John Houseman, and Ava Gardner as a former lover of General Scott who has some dirt on him the President's Men can use.The coup is revealed less than 30 minutes in to the movie.
Meanwhile, Colonel Kirk Douglas (as Martin "Jiggs" Casey) thinks charismatic General Burt Lancaster (James Mattoon Scott) is planning a military coup.
This movie was a classic political intrigue, with Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, and Burt Lancaster wrapped up in a plot to overthrow the president!
Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Fredric March and Edmond O'Brien are all excellent; Ava Gardner is okay too, though she looks far too old and nowhere near the beauty she is hyped to be (I've not seen earlier films of her, to be truthful).General Scott, played by Lancaster, actually comes down as the most sensible character at the beginning.
What do you get when you combine a genius director of suspense films (John Frankenheimer), a quartet of Hollywood legends (Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Frederic March and Ava Gardner), and a platoon of great character actors (Edmond O'Brien, Martin Balsam and Andrew Duggan, just for starters)?
IT MAKES YOU THINK and it seems so plausible the way it is laid out for the viewer.The acting is GREAT as well--with Burt Lancaster as the popular general planning the coup, Kirk Douglas as the military officer who agrees with Lancaster but cannot allow himself to violate his oath as an officer, Frederick March as the idealistic President, and Edmund O'Brien as his trusted (though occasionally intoxicated) adviser--along with many others.See this, then try the other two Frankenheimer thrillers listed.
Rod Serling's screenplay brought the drama on screen invariably close to a real life Twilight Zone that the American public never got to witness - the takeover of the United States government by a military coup led by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.For me, the best scene was the confrontation between President Lyman (Frederic March) and Lancaster's Major Scott.
Seven Days In May refers to a week in which a small group of men help President Fredric March forestall a military coup d'etat in the United States Of America.Kirk Douglas is a high ranking Marine colonel who through some small bits of information he gleans, straws in the wind so to speak, he reasons out that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff played by Burt Lancaster is plotting such an overthrow.
Also to note in the cast are Ava Gardner as a former mistress to both Douglas and Lancaster, Edmond O'Brien as an alcoholic southern senator and close friend of the president and Martin Balsam as a presidential aide.What I liked best about Seven Days In May is the small and telling performances director John Frankenheimer got out of even the smallest roles.
Events like this have been taking place all over the world for centuries...but, in the United States!?!?This is a well-acted, well-written, and, well-directed study of the possibilities of a US government overthrow in a time of fear and paranoia (The Cold War); and, when many top figures in the US Military, and, elsewhere in the US government, believe that the president is too weak and unfit to make the correct decisions to protect the United States due to his support of a nuclear disarmament during the communist nuclear buildup.Lead by Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, this all-star cast delivers a powerful story (written for the screen by the great Rod Serling), that 'could have happened' during this fragile time of world crisis that was all-too-real after World War 2 and up until the fall of the Soviet Union on December 26, 1991.