Review of Seven Days in May (1964) by Sean F — 17 Jun 2004

I think the popular approach to this film is, "Of course, something like this could never happen today, but . . ." Anybody who believes that is forgetting that the man we currently call president didn't actually win the election.

The scary thing is, this could happen today, and director John Frankenheimer emphasizes the point by not telling us what year this May happens to fall in. Frederic March is President Jordan Lyman, unpopular for appearing too soft in his dealings with the Soviet Union.

(Okay, the movie was made during the Cold War.) Burt Lancaster is General James Mattoon Scott, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and very outspoken against Lyman. He's actually planning an overthrow of the government in seven days.

Kirk Douglas is Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey, aide to Scott and hapless uncoverer of his plan. Of course, any American citizen with a sound mind would be appalled at the idea of throwing away the Constitution for a military coup, but Frankenheimer also plays with his audience a bit by having the issue at hand be a monumentally stupid mistake on Lyman's part.

Any president would be a fool to publicly destroy all weapons of mass destruction in his arsenal. (Hey, I don't like them either, but if we got rid of them we wouldn't last 24 hours.) However, Scott is also likened to Hitler in more ways than one, and a revolution is not how we depose our presidents.

Which raises the issue, wasn't this country born out of a revolution? Had it not succeeded, of course, those men 200 and some odd years ago would be considered traitors - much like Gen. Scott. As it happens, we won, and Washington and the gang are our heroes.

Would we consider a leader who took over the country forty years ago any less? Who knows. Considering what this country is supposed to stand for, we probably would. Fortunately, it's not something we've had to worry about since the American Revolution.

But don't think for a second it can't happen today. Revolutions happen all the time all over the world. (On the other hand, I wouldn't shed any tears if somebody forced the current administration out.

But that's just me.).