Seven Days in May
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Written by Rod Sterling from a novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II
1964/USA
Joel Productions/Seven Arts Productions
Repeat viewing/FilmStruck
[box] Senator Raymond Clark: All you’ve got to know is this: right now the government of the United States is sitting on top of the Washington Monument, right on the very point, tilting right and left and ready to fall off and break up on the pavement. There are just a handful of men that can prevent it. And you’re one of them.[/box]
I expected more suspense in a conspiracy theory film from John Frankenheimer.
In the not so distant future, America is divided over President Jordan Lyman’s (Fredric March) decision to enter into a nuclear disarmament agreement with the Soviet Union. Chief among the President’s detractors is General James Scott (Burt Lancaster), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fortuitously, Marine Colonel ‘Jiggs’ Casey (Kirk Douglas) learns of a top secret base in the desert. He eventually discovers that, unless foiled, there will be a military coup to overthrow the President in the next seven days.
The remainder of the film follows the battle of wits between supporters of the President and supporters of the coup. Many dirty tricks are employed. With Edmund O’Brien as a dipsomaniac Senator and friend of the President and Ava Gardner as General Scott’s ex-mistress.
This obviously has a fantastic cast and they handle their roles admirably. My problem with the film that the amount of speechifying undercuts what could be a very tense and suspenseful story. I had seen this before but had forgotten almost all of it – never a good sign. It’s got a 7.9/10 IMDb rating so your mileage may vary.
Seven Days in May was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Edmund O’Brien) and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White.
