Review of Seven Days in May (1964) by Dutch W — 21 May 2011

A well-done film from John Frankenheimer about a secret plan by the Pentagon brass to overthrow the President in a coup. Released in 1964 and set during Cold War tensions of the near future, the film offers a paranoid conspiratorial reaction to controversial nuclear policies.

One gets the feeling that while this film was based on a recent novel by Rod Sterling, the character of President Lyman is based, at least in part on President Kennedy. While pursuing a thoughtful approach to the nuclear problem and the Cold War, Kennedy earned no friends among the more hawkish members of our government and there are countless theories out there that have skirted around the real-life possibility of a situation just as this one.

Much of the specifics of the conspiracy are glossed over and we're left with a fairly light, breezy plot, accessible to the masses. I'd have liked to have seen a more complex examination of the conspiracy and the conspirators motivations.

Frankenheimer knows his way around political thrillers and this film is no exception. Excellent performances from all involved, especially Kirk Douglas as the Director of the Joint Chiefs in the whistle-blower role and Fredric March as the polarizing president seeking a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Russians.

Ava Gardner is underused in the film and one gets the feeling that many of her scenes were left on the cutting room floor. The film was remade by HBO Films in 1994 as THE ENEMY WITHIN. The DVD features a commentary from the always-interesting Frankenheimer who offers a great deal of insight to the story and the filmmaking process.