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Directed By
John Frankenheimer
Written By:
Rod Serling
Cast:
Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Martin Balsam, Andrew Duggan, Hugh Marlowe, Whit Bissell, Helen Kleeb, George Macready, Richard Anderson, John Larkin, Jack Mullaney, Colette Jackson, Malcolm Atterbury, Victor Buono, William Challee, Walter Coy, Joseph Crehan, Mimi Dillard, Joel Fluellen, Douglas Henderson, John Houseman, Michael Masters, Tyler McVey, Leonard Nimoy, Charles Watts, Tom Harris, Bart Burns, Fredd Wayne, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Clegg Hoyt, Thom Conroy, Kevin Gregor, Stuart Holmes, Charles Meredith, Joyce Nizzari, Hildy Parks, Bill Raisch, Irvin Richardson, Joe Walls, Ferris Webster, Mike West
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Seven Days in May (1964)
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It's time we faced the enemy, Mr. President.
General James Mattoon Scott (Burt Lancaster): And if you want to talk about your oath of office, I'm here to tell you face to face, President Lyman, that you violated that oath when you stripped this country of its muscles - when you deliberately played upon the fear and fatigue of the people and told them they could remove that fear by the stroke of a pen. And then when this nation rejected you, lost faith in you, and began militantly to oppose you, you violated that oath by not resigning from office and turning the country over to someone who could represent the people of the United States.
President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March): And that would be General James Mattoon Scott, would it? I don't know whether to laugh at that kind of megalomania, or simply cry.
General James Mattoon Scott: James Mattoon Scott, as you put it, hasn't the slightest interest in his own glorification. But he does have an abiding interest in the survival of this country.
President Jordan Lyman: Then, by God, run for office. You have such a fervent, passionate, evangelical faith in this country - why in the name of God don't you have any faith in the system of government you're so hell-bent to protect?
What a timely film to watch on the 4th of July. As we celebrate our independence, we see a movie about a cabal of military officers that want to subjugate us again. Those who choose fear and might over diplomacy.
With Ocean's 13 in the movies theaters recently, 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. It was a real ensemble of the great actors of the day.
This is a superlative film that examines the possibility of a military coup and the reasons for preserving our democracy and a chance to see stars who have accumulated numerous awards and award nominations over the course of their careers.
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