and Russia were tense at best, and it remains a hot topic today. It was certainly a relevant theme in the early sixties when relations between the U.S. Scott's attempts to overthrow the president through the help of other Pentagon officials and his own forces at a secret Air Force base in Texas provides a chilling scenario of the dangers of misplaced power in the military-industrial complex.
Scott (Burt Lancaster), a right-wing extremist consumed with patriotic zeal who considers the president's recent disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union an act of treason.
Bailey II, the film pits President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March) against General James M. Based on the popular novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W.
What if the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to overthrow the president of the United States in a military coup that would have dire consequences for American democracy? That's the intriguing premise behind Seven Days in May (1964), another political conspiracy thriller from the director that gave us The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - John Frankenheimer. During the telecast it is learned that Barnswell's statement has been found in the plane wreckage, and Scott also resigns, squelching the coup before it occurs. The President goes on television to demand the guilty officers' resignations, and Scott's colleagues desert him. Scott, confident that public opinion is on his side and that his aides are behind him, refuses. Later, Casey obtains some highly incriminating letters from Eleanor Holbrook, Scott's former mistress, but the President cannot bring himself to use them when he confronts Scott and demands his resignation. Presidential aide Paul Girard flies to Gibraltar, where he obtains a statement from Admiral Barnswell, a Joint Chief who isn't enthusiastic about the coup, but Girard is killed in a plane crash on the return trip, and Barnswell denies signing the statement. Clark locates the base but is held there incommunicado until he breaks out with the help of an officer friend of Casey's. Raymond Clark to investigate the secret base. Casey reports his suspicions to the President, who sends Sen. After Martin "Jiggs" Casey, Scott's aide, comes across some cryptic messages and learns of a top secret base in Texas, the existence of which is denied by others in the Pentagon, he suspects that Scott is leading the other Chiefs of Staff in a coup to occur seven days later when the President will be isolated from his civilian aides during a military alert. Scott, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who considers the action almost treasonable. President Jordan Lyman signs a nuclear treaty with the Soviet Union, arousing public displeasure and the disapproval of the military, particularly Gen.
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