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Seven Days in May (1964)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
12 February 1964 (USA)
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Tagline:
"I'm suggesting Mr President, there's a military plot to take over the Government of these United States, next Sunday..." more
Plot:
US military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
Another 3 wins
&
6 nominations
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NewsDesk:
User Comments:
Seven Days in May Was Anything But Far-fetched
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Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Burt Lancaster | ... | Gen. James Mattoon Scott |
 | Kirk Douglas | ... | Col. Martin 'Jiggs' Casey |
 | Fredric March | ... | President Jordan Lyman |
 | Ava Gardner | ... | Eleanor Holbrook |
 | Edmond O'Brien | ... | Sen. Raymond Clark |
 | Martin Balsam | ... | Paul Girard |
| Andrew Duggan | ... | Col. William 'Mutt' Henderson |
| Hugh Marlowe | ... | Harold McPherson |
| Whit Bissell | ... | Sen. Frederick Prentice |
| Helen Kleeb | ... | Esther Townsend |
| George Macready | ... | Christopher Todd |
 | Richard Anderson | ... | Col. Murdock |
| Bart Burns | ... | Art Corwin |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
118 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Norway:12 (1964) |
Canada:14A (Ontario) |
USA:Approved (certificate #20565) |
Canada:PG (video rating) |
West Germany:12 (f) |
Finland:K-8 |
Spain:13 |
Sweden:15 |
Argentina:Atp |
Australia:G
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Paul Girard (Martin Balsam) meets Admiral Barnswell (John Houseman), commander of the 6th Fleet, in Gibraltar aboard his flagship, USS Kitty Hawk, one of the newest & largest aircraft carriers in 1964. The scene was filmed in San Diego Bay, where the Kitty Hawk was actually flagship of the 7th Fleet based in the Pacific. The aircraft carrier USS Midway is in the background. The Midway is now a museum in San Diego while the Kitty Hawk is still in service (2008) and the longest serving US Navy ship.
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Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When the President walks into his bedroom, the camera pulls back and its shadow is seen on the wall to the left.
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Quotes:
Senator Raymond Clark:
You stay put right here... I'm going to phone the White House. Tell you what, friend: when this is over you can take off your girdle and have yourself a real good cry. Say, uh, you got a dime to stop a revolution with?
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Movie Connections:
Featured in ... A Father... A Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2005) (TV)
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (57 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Seven Days in May (1964)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Officer in Pool Scene | gary_overman |
| This movie is top notch | dsh1998 |
| Title design | jdoan-4 |
| Pentagon! | sven_usling |
| Civilians Vs. Military | bhoover247 |
| Minor plot point | Blue387 |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
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| Fail-Safe | Thirteen Days | JFK | Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb | The Sum of All Fears |
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The novel and the movie Seven Days in May were based on a very potential reality. See James Bamford's 2002 book, Body of Secrets, which is about the National Security Agency. General Edwin Walker, mentioned in another review, was only the least of what was going on in the higher echelons of the U.S. military near the end of the Eisenhower Administration and the beginning of the Kennedy-Johnson Administration.
At military bases, and even at the National War College in Washington, the most rabid preachings took place about the real threat of communism coming not from Russia or Cuba, but from high-ups in the domestic power structure, including the government. The entire Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), led by Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer, was very right wing and rabidly obsessed with the idea that American civilization could not endure unless Cuba was militarily conquered and occupied in the long-term. They repeatedly threw suggestions for this at Eisenhower, who never took the bit. When Ike left the Oval Office and Kennedy, who had never been a military higher-up, replaced him, Lemnitzer felt adrift and became very paranoid. There were all sorts of JCS contingency plans, never implemented, for creating an incident that could be blamed falsely on the Russians and/or the Cubans to justify an invasion - a sort of second sinking of the battleship Maine. The more far-fetched of these ideas included terrorism at home to be blamed on Cuba and an attack on a friendly Central American country that could be falsely blamed on Cuba, all without the President's approval. Lemnitzer, according to Bamford, had little use for the concept of civilian control of the military. In fact,enough of this atmosphere within the U.S. military was in the wind that there was a secret Congressional inquiry into the potential for a military takeover of the government, which was based on more than idle wonder. Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee (the father of the recent Vice President), a member of the investigating committee, called for Lemnitzer's firing. Kennedy did not fire him, but did not re-appoint him to a second term as Chairman, preferring the more rational Maxwell Taylor.
When the book came out, I stayed awake for 24 hours to finish it. I could not put it down. Mercifully, the film is shorter, but it is superbly acted and very well scripted. You won't be disappointed.