The story of a nearly successful military takeover of the U.S. government, Seven Days in May was scripted by Twilight Zone creator and moralizing nag Rod Serling, which means the viewer must endure occasional scenes of cringe-inducing, self-righteous blather shoehorned into an otherwise exceptional political thriller. Thankfully, the movie’s strengths — a brilliant cast (Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Fredric March), director John Frankenheimer’s taut pacing and a scarily credible plot — far outweigh Serling’s chronic tendency to buttonhole and sermonize. When, near the end of the film, Douglas’s character, a career military man, finally confronts his one-time hero and now proven traitor, Gen. James Mattoon Scott (Lancaster), the macho tension between the two superstars — and close off-screen friends — is staggering.
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