Saturday Night Cinema: Seven days in May

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Tonight’s Saturday Night Cinema classic is “Seven Days in May.” John Frankenheimer’s gripping political tale of conspiracy benefits from taut direction, good acting by an all-star cast, and excellent technical values, especially cinematography. In light of the Democrats attempted coup pre and post the 2016 Presidential election, this doesn’t seem too fantastic or far-out. Frankly reality is far more frightening. The Democrat plot involved multiple U.S. agencies , the movie, just one.

 

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https://youtu.be/aOd5lGVXOZw

Seven Days in May’ Opens at 2 Theaters

By Bosley Crowther, New York Times,FEB. 20, 1964

IT’S beginning to look us though the movies are out to scare us all to death with dire and daring speculations on what might happen, any day in Washington.First we had “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” which tells us, between bursts of laughter, how helpless our Government would be if a maniacal Air Force general tried to start a nuclear war. Now, in a film from Fletcher Knebel’s and Charles W. Bailey 2d’s novel, “Seven Days in May,” we are offered a similarly fearsome prospect of the crisis that might occur if another Air Force general planned to seize control of the Government.Suffering cats and little kittens!

One might ask what we’re coming to if such shocking thoughts are penetrating the deep domes of Hollywood! But at least we have this consolation: a substantial measure of hope is held out by the second picture, which opened at the Criterion and the Sutton yesterday.The traitors are boldly confronted by the President of the United States, the plot is adroitly uncovered and the Republic still stands at the end.As a matter of fact, there is a great deal about this “Seven Days in May” that is rousing and encouraging to a feeling of confidence and pride—and this is in addition to the feelings of tension and excitement it stirs. Considerably more than melodrama and sensationalism are contained in its not too farfetched speculations. There is, in its slick dramatic frame, a solid base of respect for democracy and the capacities of freedom-loving men.

Essentially, the film offers a gripping melodramatic account of the steps taken by the President when he is advised of a secret suspicion that the top Air Force general, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is heading a plot to take over the Government on a certain Sunday in May. This general, a highly popular hero, is moved to this traitorous enterprise because he fears the consequences of a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Russians that the President has negotiated.Leads on this mammoth maneuver are swiftly and smartly pursued in the best spy-fiction tradition, amazing discoveries are made and a climactic confrontation between the Presidnt and his adversary is reached. But the interesting thing is that the import of the drama here takes a marked turn into a delicate, critical area of political philosophy.

In some vivid and trenchant dialogue, which Rod Serling has composed in doing the screenplay from the novel, the President sadly notes the cause of such a move toward upheaval is not one man’s lust for power but the consequence of a concentration of fear and anxiety. The enemy is not the general, he says, it is the nuclear age. “It happens to have killed man’s faith in his ability to influence what happens to him,” he says.If for no more than this statement, the film is worth its salt.But there is a whole lot more in it. The whole thing achieves a tingling speed and irresistible tension under John Frankenheimer’s direction, which deftly lifts some of the tricks of pictorial and musical emphasis from the old Nazi “Blitzkrieg” films. It gathers a sense of actuality and plausibility (except for one twist; that is the supposition of a giant secret military base).And it is expertly played.Fredric March’s performance as the President is the firmest and the best.

In it is reflected an awareness of the immensity of the anguish of this man. Kirk Douglas is sturdy and valiant as the Air Force colonel who smells out the plot, and Burt Lancaster is impressively forceful as the engineer of the coup d’état.Martin Balsam as the President’s press secretary, Edmond O’Brien as a doughty Senator, Ava Gardner as a Washington hostess and Whit Bissell as a Senatorial sneak are among the several excellent performers of secondary roles.As dismal as is the complication that they and this picture present, the acknowledgment of its possibility and the discovery of how it might be resolved, with wisdom and fundamental courage, make this a brave and forceful film.

SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, screenplay by Rod Serling, based on the novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Balley 2d;
directed by John Frankenheimer
produced by Edward Lewis

A Paramount Pictures presentation. At the Criterion Theater, Broadway and 45th Street, and the Sutton Theater, 57th Street near Third Avenue. Running time: 120 minutes.
Gen. James M. Scott . . . . . Burt Lancaster
Col. Martin Casey . . . . . Kirk Douglas
President Jordan Lyman . . . . . Fredric March
Eleanor Holbrook . . . . . Ava Gardner
Senator Raymond Clark . . . . . Edmond O’Brien
Paul Girard . . . . . Martin Balsam
Christopher Todd . . . . . George Macready
Senator Prentice . . . . . Whit Bissell
Admiral Barnswell . . . . . John Houseman
Harold McPherson . . . . . Hugh Marlowe
Arthur Corwin . . . . . Bart Burns
Colonel Murdock . . . . . Richard Anderson
Lieutenant Hough . . . . . Jack Mullaney
Col. Mutt Henderson . . . . . Andrew Duggan
Colonel Broderick . . . . . John Larkin
White House physican . . . . . Malcolm Atterbury
Esther Townsend . . . . . Helen Kleeb
Bar Girl . . . . . Colette Jackson

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Marc
Marc
4 years ago

One day the commies and/or muzzies will ban
all socially critical films like the Nazis once did.
Anyone who watches them still in secret will be
punished imediately with death by beheading.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Kirk Douglas was my favorite American actor even in my childhood.
He radiated an unshakeable confidence. Now he has already had
a few strokes, but has not lost his optimism. But his son has some-
thing sinister in his soul, that he must have inherited from his mum.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Wow, still alive, he will
become 102 this year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Douglas

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

…pardon, 103!

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

By the way, it was found out that the supposedly oldest per-
son in the world, a woman from southern France, had lied

about her date of birth. She had simply used her mother’s
date of birth. To this day, no one is said to be older than 119.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

A German proverb says: “Men with adimple
in their chins will produce girls”. But not him.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Personally, I can’t stand “heroes” who never laugh, like Richard Burton or Charles Bronson. Wo-
men may find silent types of men sexy, but much more interesting are heroes who can also gain
joy and enjoyment from life. Trump at least smiles, but he’ll never have the charisma of a Douglas.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Which brings us back to astrology. Douglas is a typical Sagittarius, a lucky child deter-
mined by the happiness planet Jupiter. Lancaster, on the other hand, who can still smile
with his teeth pointing, with the intensity and depth of a scorpio (Burton and Bronson al-
so scorpios). The astrologers themselves do not know why it works. But you can see it.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

A typical example is the movie “Scorpio”. Made by two Jewish
scorpios (Winner & Mirisch) with two scorpios as leading actors

(Lancaster & Delon). Obviously they have realized themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpio_(film)

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

I’m not an all-too big fan of American-style “utility music”. But how ela-
borate the detailed orchestral music in such films is, which underlines
every scene in a special way, is still impressive and respectable today.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

The truth is, it’s all fake and a pipe dream. These stories never existed. And no spectator has ever seen all the stage constructions, cables, cameras and vainly filmed shots that were filmed.

One could say “Americanism is wishful thinking”. Is that good or wrong? Without these heroes and dreams, the world would be darker and more boring. But that would be the real world as it existed before Hollywood. And nature can’t be boring.

Today, however, we live in a purely artificial fake world in which nothing is real anymore. Even supposed ISIS butchers shoot their videos in studios or edit them with computers, and nobody knows if we should only be manipulated.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

I even suspect that boredom is a result of our civilization and sensory

overload. We drug addicts need “the next kick” with explosions, distrac-
tions and “tension”. Our ancestors had no time or leisure for boredom.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

The English word civilization comes from the 16th-century French civilisé (“civilized”), from
Latin civilis (“civil”), related to civis (“citizen”) and civitas (“city”). Konrad Lorenz called it the piggification (Verhausschweinung) of modern man. McDonaldization has a similar meaning.

GeneP54
GeneP54
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

As a woman, I can say that most of us like a hero who can laugh, esp. at themselves. There’s not much sexier than a good sense of humor!

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  GeneP54

Thank you very much for the confirmation! I see it the same way, even though I am

on the other side of the gender barrier. There is nothing more fulfilling for a man than
making the woman he loves laugh. But also that this woman understands his humour.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Especially impressive are those people who
go through every prejudice laughing like Mo-
ses through the Red Sea. It just rolls off them.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Kirk Douglas was a helluva an actor. He did everything from Westerns to dramatic leads (like the Van Gogh biography). He’s fluent in French too.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago

I never knew Rod Serling wrote the screenplay for this. Considering the nest of traitorous muslums and muslum collaborators we have in our government today, this movie seems more apropos than ever.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago

Arrest the Seditious DOJ top brass and replace them with Judicial Watch!

Arrest the Seditious FBI top brass and place all re-vetted agents under the US Marshall’s Service!

The CIA? Burn it down.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago
Reply to  CharlieSeattle

Don’t forget the State Dept. they’re nothing but an arm of the OIC.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago

The crime is called, SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY ……Treason by many!

18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy

law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2384

If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

livingengine
livingengine
4 years ago

The Plot to Seize the White House: The Shocking TRUE Story of the Conspiracy to Overthrow F.D.R
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VKI49X0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  livingengine

One question I always wanted to ask you:
Means “Mod” moderator for this forum?

livingengine
livingengine
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Yes, I am the Mod. Would you do me a favor, and leave a reply to any of my comments when you see spam? That way I can come and ban the spammer. Thanks.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  livingengine

Thank you, my reply to you was obviously misplaced to
myself above.Yes, I will certainly do that, my dear friend.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  livingengine

(Thanks for your upvote &

your trust. I feel honored.)

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

(ah, thx)

livingengine
livingengine
4 years ago
Reply to  livingengine
Marc
Marc
4 years ago

Make a short film about the Holocaust for 30,000 euros and you’ll be
showered with prizes in Hollywood. The “concern” seems to be more
important (especially for German filmmakers) than originality or content.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyland_(film)#Awards

Now I am not against the cinematic portrayal of the Holocaust or the Third
Reich, which must actually fail, but I am against inflation, the exaggerated,
the excess with which it is carried out year after year, so that people withdraw
yawning. Whoever wants to achieve effect must use his weapons discreetly,
otherwise they will perish in loud shouting. But this point has long since been
passed.

Then rather a schmaltzy romance as it can probably
only be staged by Jews. Turteltaub’s movies have al-
most all made a gigantic profit at the box office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/While_You_Were_Sleeping_(film)

IndigoRed
IndigoRed
4 years ago

Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster – dimples and teeth, how could a film get any better?

D A
D A
4 years ago

We saw this recently. An excellent movie …. holds up very well.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago

Btw., I first learned from Georg’s film about Kirk from him what “Fake it til
you make it” means. The two Sagittariuses got along fantastically, in con-
trast to the “neurotic” Sagittarius Woody Allen, who Troller filmed twice (in
the 70s already after his first successes). They hated each others guts, but
Troller as a Viennese Jew was gigantically superior to this “East Coast Jew”.
https://www.amazon.de/Hollywood-Profile-Georg-Stefan-Troller/dp/B000MWC4WS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_it_till_you_make_it

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

At the end of his film Troller took the liberty of going to a Jewish quarter
in New York, where the traditionally dressed Jews asked: “Woody who?”

Marc
Marc
4 years ago

Astrology divides the signs of the zodiac into phases of development. While scorpio (Lancaster) understands
life as a perpetual struggle for existence, above all to overcome the ego, as a transformation of the skinning
snake, the following sign Sagittarius has already overcome this status from birth on, and is in this world sear-
ching for the deeper truth behind the truth. Sagittarius are people who often enter the society of socially ele-
vated personalities, since they are automatically promoted by them as born lucky children. One could say that
Scorpio, the time in which everything rotted and all leaves fell, becomes strong through overcoming oneself,
but Sagittarius succeeds in everything because it’s made easy for him from the outset. Two different qualities.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

I’m sure we all have both in us. The conviction of being carried by a higher power (Sagittarius), but also
the sometimes incomprehensible desire to go into the depths of human existence (Scorpio). Scorpio, in-
stictively aware of these connections, often compulsively seeks the bottomlands in order to strengthen

himself in battle, he stops at nothing. The Sagittarius no longer needs all of this, he has virtually deta-
ched himself from the earthly struggle for existence, and regards truth as a “holistic, universal event”.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

I feel the change in times every year when Christmas markets start in Germany
at the end of November. Then the dark time of the fermenting scorpio, who is figh-
ting with himself constantly, is over. Not for nothing was Beethoven a Sagittarius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Joy

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Now we have entered Pamela’s sign of fast and easy communication.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Sorry, it’s two days.

Marc
Marc
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

It doesn’t matter to Pamela, because
since Aries (her Mars) & Taurus (her
moon) she is favoured by the stars.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago
Reply to  Marc

Are you a properly licensed astrologist?

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