Seven Days in May

Unrated

2/12/19641h 58m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The astounding story of an astounding military plot to take over the United States! The time is 1970 or 1980 or, possibly, tomorrow! ~

Overview:

A U.S. Marine Corps colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

the white house
based on novel or book
general
kidnapping
cold war
pentagon
coup d'etat
u.s. air force
conspiracy
black and white
desert
secret service
u.s. marine
nuclear weapons
joint chiefs of staff
political thriller

Cast

Burt Lancaster

~ as ~

Gen. James Mattoon Scott

Kirk Douglas

~ as ~

Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey

Fredric March

~ as ~

President Jordan Lyman

Ava Gardner

~ as ~

Eleanor Holbrook

Edmond O'Brien

~ as ~

Sen. Raymond Clark

Martin Balsam

~ as ~

Paul Girard

Andrew Duggan

~ as ~

Col. William "Mud" Henderson

Hugh Marlowe

~ as ~

Harold McPherson

Whit Bissell

~ as ~

Sen. Frederick Prentice

Helen Kleeb

~ as ~

Esther Townsend

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 7 month(s) ago
8
This is an enthralling political drama that pitches Fredric March ("Pres. Lyman") against the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Burt Lancaster ("Gen. Scott") in a battle for control of the United States. When an aide to the General - "Jiggs Casey" (Kirk Douglas) notices some odd goings on, he begins to suspect that his boss is plotting - and plotting on a treasonous scale. When he brings this to the attention of the President, a race is on between the elected authorities and their military commanders to stop the scheming general from achieving his goal. Lancaster is superb as the imperious 4-star general, as are Douglas and March. The star, for me at any rate, though, is Edmond O'Brien as the regularly sozzled Senator "Clark", who is despatched to investigate the existence of a secret base - and potentially thwart the entire rogue operation. The pace is excellent, the dialogue thoughtful and penetrating leaving us with a worrying degree of paranoia - might this actually be possible?