Home
search
more | tips
IMDb > Seven Days in May (1964)
Seven Days in May
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summaryplot synopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

Seven Days in May (1964) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 17 | slideshow) Videos
Seven Days in May (1964) -- US military leaders plot to overthrow the President because he supports a nuclear disarmament treaty and they fear a Soviet sneak attack.

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   4,183 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 10% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
John Frankenheimer
Writers:
Fletcher Knebel (novel) &
Charles W. Bailey II (novel) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Seven Days in May on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 February 1964 (USA) more
Genre:
Thriller | Drama more
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 2 wins & 6 nominations more
User Comments:
Spare the Rod more

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Malcolm Atterbury ... Horace, the president's physician (uncredited)
Victor Buono ... Bit (uncredited)
William Challee ... (uncredited)
Thom Conroy ... (uncredited)
Walter Coy ... (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan ... (uncredited)
Mimi Dillard ... Mother at Dulles Airport (uncredited)
Joel Fluellen ... White House elevator operator (uncredited)
Kevin Gregor ... (uncredited)
Tom Harris ... (uncredited)
Douglas Henderson ... (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes ... (uncredited)
John Houseman ... Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell (uncredited)
Colette Jackson ... Bar Girl (uncredited)
John Larkin ... Col. Broderick (uncredited)

Michael Masters ... (uncredited)
Tyler McVey ... Gen. Hardesty (uncredited)
Charles Meredith ... Senate Committee Member (uncredited)
Jack Mullaney ... LTJG Dorsey Grayson (uncredited)

Leonard Nimoy ... (uncredited)
Joyce Nizzari ... (uncredited)
Hildy Parks ... (uncredited)
Bill Raisch ... (uncredited)
Irvin Richardson ... (uncredited)
Joe Walls ... (uncredited)
Charles Watts ... Stewart Dillard (uncredited)

Fredd Wayne ... Henry Whitney (uncredited)
Ferris Webster ... Gen. Bernard 'Barney' Rutkowski (uncredited)
Mike West ... (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
John Frankenheimer 
 
Writing credits
Fletcher Knebel (novel) &
Charles W. Bailey II (novel)

Rod Serling (screenplay)

Produced by
Edward Lewis .... producer
 
Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith 
 
Cinematography by
Ellsworth Fredericks (director of photography) (as Ellsworth Fredricks)
 
Film Editing by
Ferris Webster 
 
Production Design by
Cary Odell 
 
Set Decoration by
Edward G. Boyle  (as Edward Boyle)
 
Makeup Department
Dave Grayson .... makeup artist (as David Grayson)
Sydney Guilaroff .... hair stylist: Miss Gardner
 
Production Management
Hal W. Polaire .... production manager (as Hal Polaire)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hal W. Polaire .... assistant director (as Hal Polaire)
 
Art Department
Frank Agnone .... property master
Gene Lauritzen .... construction coordinator (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Joe Edmondson .... sound mixer
 
Stunts
Bill Catching .... stunts (uncredited)
Robert 'Buzz' Henry .... stunts (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Borland .... key grip
John Mehl .... camera operator
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Wesley Jeffries .... costumer (as Wes Jefferies)
 
Editorial Department
Bill Brame .... assistant editor
 
Music Department
Jerry Goldsmith .... conductor
 
Other crew
Thom Conroy .... dialogue coach (as Tom Conroy)
John Franco .... script supervisor
Patrick J. Palmer .... location manager
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
118 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
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

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
During a briefing between Col. "Jiggs" Casey and Gen. Scott in Scott's Pentagon office, the second shot on the video screen, allegedly of B-47s taxiing at Wright Field during the January alert, is footage from the film Strategic Air Command (1955). more
Goofs:
Errors in geography: Jiggs and Senator Clark are at Dulles Airport in Virginia. Jiggs leaves the airport and there are palm trees outside. It looks like the outside of LAX, not Dulles. In the next scene, they are in downtown Washington, D.C. with the Capitol Dome clearly visible. more
Quotes:
Senator Frederick Prentice: You make me think that fruit salad on your chest is for neutrality, evasiveness, and fence-straddling.
Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey: On the contrary, Senator, they're standard awards for cocktail courage and dinner-table heroism. I thought you'd invented them.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
19 out of 29 people found the following comment useful:-
Spare the Rod, 21 November 2002
Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico

A fascinating movie. I have it on tape and watch it regularly. I'm not sure why. The story is a primitive one. "There is a plot to take over these United States." (Even the tag line is incorrect. Douglas says "the" United States.) The script, by Rod Serling, is full of his trouvees. Ava Gardner says to Douglas: "I'll give you two things. A steak, rare, and the truth, which is very rare." (I'm laughing out loud as I write this.) Frederick March is always referring to his physician as "the good doctor." A cabinet member, played by George Macready, is a yachting freak so he's always interjecting ejaculations like, "Look out, Mister President! These are deep waters we're sailing in!" He tells Douglas that he, Douglas, gets credit for whatever taste of victory they have in their mouths, just after Kirk has been forced through an immoral act. "The taste in my mouth, Mr. Secretary, isn't exactly victory." But Rod isn't to blame for all of the script. Some is lifted from the novel, in which the president is referred to as "Jordy." The novel's prose is, let us say, clumsy and a little hard to swallow sometimes. Yet I like this film a lot. The stilted dialogue is enjoyably comic. The photography has a pleasantly washed out diluted quality, particularly noticeable in the scenes in El Paso, where the featureless desert seems almost blindingly white. The performances are about as good as they get. Lancaster has made several movies with John Frankenheimer and I suppose they get along, their interests being as much alike as they are, and it shows in Burt's performance. Kirk Douglas, who made even more movies with Burt, looks snazzy in a bird colonel's summer uniform. The rest of the cast is simply fine. Edmond O'Brian is pretty old and tubby and looks the part of an alcoholic pol with backbone. His Southern accent is neatly done. His eyes sort of bulge out and look in two slightly different directions, lending his part a comedic undertone, regardless of circumstances. George Macready -- has anyone ever played an icey standoffish cold fish as well as he? Is that what going to Brown does to you? I've always admired Martin Balsam's style. He has a gift for draping ordinary lines in a kind of sonorous tinsel -- very New Yorkish, but quirkily so. The gift is on full display in this film. His exchange with John Housmann aboard the aircraft carrier is priceless. There is nothing "dramatic" about it. It's simply done very well. Housmann has a small part, but he's very effective in it. Frederick March, a reliable actor, is reliable here. The Secret Service guy is dispensable and seems dumb compared to the other characters. The politicians, except for the president and secretary, are pretty slimy, as you'd expect in a movie about a plot to take over these United States, and Hugh Marlowe, as the ranking politician conveys that sliminess. Ava Gardner I admire as a woman but have never found her much of an actress. Andrew Duggan ditto. Richard Anderson in a small part exudes his usual class. Everyone from the Jersey shore has class. Look at Norman Mailer. Look at Jack Nicholson. Look at Abbott and Costello. I'm certain that anyone who knows the politicomilitary bureaucracy could poke so many holes in this story that it would look like the brain of a cow that had died of bovine spongiform disorder, but it doesn't matter. It's a left-wing fantasy, and an enjoyable one. The only truly disturbing scene is when March is making his victory speech at the end. Something about "marching out of the dark tunnels of ignorance into the bright sunshine of freedom." Absolutely nothing more than a collage of platitudes and clichés, totally content free. It's as if Rod had done some acid before writing it and kept getting lost along the way. But that's okay. It's an enjoyable film. Very dramatic score, with lots of CLANGS -- ominous bells. Eleventh-hour-type bells. See it if you have a chance.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Seven Days in May (1964)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Civilians Vs. Military bhoover247
Title design jdoan-4
Minor plot point Blue387
The plane crash dgcrow
This movie is top notch dsh1998
Pentagon! sven_usling
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Fail-Safe Thirteen Days The Hunt for Red October The Sum of All Fears JFK
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Thriller section IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.