Film Review
John Frankenheimer's follow up to
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
was this equally gripping political thriller offering an equally grim
reflection of the Cold War paranoia that afflicted America in the early
1960s. Real-life events that preceded and followed the making of
Seven Days in May - ranging from a
plot to seize power from Franklin Roosevelt, through the
Iran-Contra affair to the misguided invasion of Iraq in 2002 - have
added to the chilling plausibility of what we see in this film.
It is a sobering thought to realise that one of the greatest threats to
a country's democracy may come from within, from its own military
leaders. The film was based on a novel by Fletcher Knebel
and Charles W. Bailey II, which was inspired by the activities of
General Edwin A. Walker, an ultra-rightwing anti-Communist activist who
was arrested on an insurrection charge in 1962.
Frankenheimer's flair for realism and some knockout performances from
an exceptional cast combine to make
Seven
Days in May one of cinema's most compelling and disturbing
thrillers. The nobility and humanity of Fredric March's president
is revealed in stark relief against the obsessive paranoia of Burt
Lancaster's deluded general as the two lock horns in a decisive battle
of wills. There is something viscerally chilling about
Lancaster's passionate tirades as he justifies a course of action that
will inevitably lead to war. How closely these seem to mirror the
speeches by certain political leaders of our own times who justify
military action with a religious certainty in their own
belief. The film asserts what we now know to be an
unequivocal truth: the greatest threat to our cherished peace and
democracy comes not from outside our borders, but from within, from
those who see terror in every lurking shadow and who believe they are
on a Heaven-sent mission to save us. These are the Devil's
emissaries and we heed them at our peril.
© James Travers 2010
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Next John Frankenheimer film:
The Train (1964)
Film Synopsis
The decision of U.S. President Jordan Lyman to sign a nuclear
disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union does not go down well. His
approval rating takes a sudden nosedive and he immediately finds
himself in bitter conflict with the military and his political
opponents. The country is divided into two camps, those who
support Lyman's initiative, which should eliminate the threat of
nuclear war, and those who are against, who believe that the USSR will
renege on the deal and attack a defenceless nation. The man
who is most fervently opposed to the treaty is the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Mattoon Scott. In contrast
to Lyman, a tired old man nearing the end of his term in office, Scott
is passionate and seen by many as a natural leader at a crucial point
in his country's history. Lyman is incredulous when he learns,
through Scott's closest aide Colonel Martin Casey, that the general is
plotting a coup d'état in which the President will be kidnapped,
allowing the military to step in and take control of the
government. Although he is at first sceptical of Scott's ability
to pull off such an audacious scheme, Lyman is soon convinced that this
is precisely what will happen, in seven days' time...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.