Seven Days in May

views updated

Seven Days in May ★★★½ 1964

Topical but still gripping Cold War nuclearperil thriller. After President Jordan Lyman (March) signs a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviets, General James M. Scott (Lancaster), the leader of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plans a military takeover because he considers the president's pacifism traitorous. Lyman learns of the potential coup and works to expose the plot before it's too late. Highly suspenseful, with a breathtaking climax. Based on a novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles Waldo Bailey II. 117m/B VHS, DVD . Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Edmond O'Brien, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Martin Balsam, George Macready, Whit Bissell, Hugh Marlowe, Richard Anderson, Andrew Duggan, John Houseman; D: John Frankenheimer; W: Rod Serling; C: Ellsworth Fredericks; M: Jerry Goldsmith. Golden Globes '65: Support. Actor (O'Brien).