Seven Days in May
Composite Score: 81.67
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Martin Balsam, Andrew Duggan, Hugh Marlowe, and Whit Bissell
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writers: Fletcher Knebel, Charles W. Bailey II, and Rod Serling
Genres: Drama, Thriller, Political
MPAA Rating: Approved
Box Office: $3.65 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Seven Days in May tells the story of an attempted military coup in the United States after the president signs a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviets. It is an espionage thriller that keeps you guessing as to loyalties, plots, and who is going to triumph throughout. Its plot and message, though targeted to a Cold War audience, remain poignant, familiar, and necessary nearly sixty years after its release. Its performances help drive the dialogue-heavy film’s plot forward, and each is well acted, helping keep you engaged in the complex plot of betrayals and deceptions. A classic of the political thriller genre, Seven Days in May should keep you on your seat’s edge for its entirety.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
The film features a subplot about “Jiggs”, the film’s main character, seducing the former mistress of the general at the center of the attempted coup in order to get dirt on him for the president to use if the situation becomes dire. Ultimately, the love letters that Jiggs recovers are not used, and he is able to make up with Eleanor after deceiving her, but the middle of the subplot leaves a dirty taste in the mouth. Jiggs goes to Eleanor’s apartment under the pretext of being interested in a romantic rendezvous, and when she goes to make dinner for the two of them, he sneaks the letters sent by General Scott into his jacket. Eleanor catches him in the act and is disappointed – mainly because he plans to use them against Scott, not at all for the way such info could impact her own lifestyle. Perhaps it is understood that everybody who could matter to her already knows about her and Scott, but it feels like an odd omission for Jiggs, the president, and their whole “side” to not take into consideration the effect such a release could have on the woman in question (something we are more sensitive to in the modern day after the Lewinski scandal and others). This is due, for the most part, to the 1960s and that era of Hollywood and their inconsistent treatment of female characters. Were the film remade in a modern context, no doubt the subplot would be heavily altered and maybe removed entirely.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For one, the acting in Seven Days in May leaves little wanting. Burt Lancaster plays the charismatic, driven, and incredibly misguided General Scott with all the flair of a modern politician, convinced of his rightness in the face of numerous evidence to the contrary. Kirk Douglas’s “Jiggs” Casey is the reluctant everyman soldier that the film needs in a protagonist, being driven and passionate enough to still be a unique character but also generic enough that any audience member could insert themselves into his shoes. Ava Gardner’s Eleanor Holbrook is at first a convincingly enchanting seductress before shifting in the film’s back half to the sympathetic victim of Scott’s charisma and the machinations of corrupt military brass and politicians. Fredric March plays President Lyman as the determined president, standing by his guns (actually his non-guns) in the face of record-low approval ratings, even delivering a moving presidential address to close the film out, reminding the audience of the importance of our democratic processes even in times of crisis – a speech that would make any Sorkin fan incredibly proud. The other noteworthy performance comes from Edmond O’Brien who received an Oscar nomination for portraying the senior senator from Georgia and longtime friend of the president, Raymond Clark. O’Brien’s portrayal is impassioned and flawed, just as the drunken senator he portrays on screen, representing what seems to be the people’s voice in the midst of the complexity of the film’s espionage plot.
The film’s message remains resonant, if a tad nuanced, for a modern audience. The urge that comes from President Lyman’s closing speech is one of political efficacy and the impact that our vote can have in a true democracy and the resilience of freedom over authoritarianism and fascism. The speech contains, I believe, the heart of Seven Days in May’s message, and a good portion of that stays necessary for today’s audiences. Obviously, there are serious flaws in the voting system, and true democracy hasn’t been the actual state of elections in the U.S. maybe ever. However, the message of standing up to fascists and charismatic autocrats when they try to undermine such democratic systems as are in place remains something that the world needs to hear. If anything, since the end of the Cold War, such resistance has become less commonplace, and we need to be reminded of its importance. Also, President Lyman’s hope for peace through disarmament and reducing the size of the military and nuclear arsenals flies in the face of basically everything that the military industrial complex has taught Americans and politicians to believe – to the point that such a treaty would probably still be met with impeachments, attempted coups, and accusations of naivete today – making it a refreshing story to engage with and a poignant one for people who want to see an end to such practices.
A classic political thriller, Seven Days in May triumphs through its skillful acting and consistently resonant themes of hope in democracy and peace over fascism and militarism. Its questionably ethical subplot about outing an affair only detracts slightly from the film’s complex plot that is praiseworthy for the twists and turns it takes to get to its somber but hopeful ending. From all of these pieces rises a film worthy of its place among the Greatest Films of All Time and one that should be watched by certainly any American and probably a lot of others as well.
