Claim: Seven Days in May stars American actor Ava Gardner.

Seven Days in May is a 1964 American political thriller motion picture about a military-political cabal 's planned take-over of the United States government in reaction to the president 's negotiation of a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union . Directed by John Frankenheimer , it stars Burt Lancaster , Kirk Douglas , Fredric March , and Ava Gardner . The screenplay was written by Rod Serling based on the novel of the same name by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II , published in September 1962 .