#how does Burt Lancaster get more boring as I get older?

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

192. Rope Of Sand (1949)

[tcm]

“What If...?” Scenarios from Seven Days in May by Theresa Brown

“Yes I know who Judas was. He was a man I worked for and admired until he disgraced the four stars on his uniform.”

John Frankenheimer’s SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964) was written by Rod Serling. Oh yes, THAT Rod Serling! Fasten your seatbelts, kids. It’s gonna be a helluva of a “What If?” The movie hinges on where one stands on either side of a nuclear treaty with the Soviet Union: either with politicians or the military.

The movie unfolds like a dripping faucet. No, no, this is not to say boring. Not in the least. I mean it unravels the plot slowly at first. Bread crumbs lead us to the big revelation...the crux of the plot. Excuse me if I sound cryptic. I want to be careful talking about this movie if you haven’t seen it yet, so as not to give anything away. The film takes on that procedural feel where we go step by step on how an institution tackles the problem. There is an urgency and tension to SEVEN DAYS IN MAY because there’s a race against time from each side of this equation; one side wants to protect itself, while the other side tries to protect the country.

There are good guys and bad guys in this movie. This all-male cast (and one Ava) are some of the best character actors in the business at doing what they do. In this corner – the bad guys: Whit Bissell, a politician totally on board; Richard Anderson and John Houseman are stern military men who take matters in their own hands and are not above making people disappear; and the sonorous voice of Hugh Marlowe introduces us to a bombastic newscaster also in on the game. For the good guys we have: Oscar-winner Edmond O’Brien as a slightly pickled senator who backs the president all the way; Martin Balsam is the president’s skeptical advisor (making every movie he’s in better); there’s raspy-voiced George Macready as the pragmatic political operative; and Andrew Duggan plays a general who puts country over military. Though not bonafide A-list movie stars, these are simply good, solid character actors who do a great job in this film.

Now if you want to turn up wattage, I’ll start with Ava. Ava who? C’mon, there’s really only ONE Ava. I don’t know if Ms. Gardner is used to her best advantage in the movie (after all, this is a “man’s world”). But she does a good job as the spurned mistress. She’s a woman who’s been let down by men and we see her spirit take a couple of blows to the heart. Her character deserves better and holds the key to possibly bringing down one of the men. [FYI: Ava’s next movie is NIGHT OF THE IGUANA where she really lets it rip].

I’ve never been a huge Fredric March fan for inexplicable reasons, but I must say he gives several performances as an older actor that I enjoy very much. This is one of them. He’s perfectly cast as POTUS; he has gravitas. As president, he thoughtfully weighs his options and puts in place a strategy to get to the bottom of things. As an actor, March is natural and believable as one who spreads out all the president’s men to thwart the plot. When his character takes Truman’s word to heart, you totally believe March when he says the buck really does stop with him. March holds his own opposite the younger, more intense Burt Lancaster and doesn’t let those wily character actors steal a scene.

Lancaster and director Frankenheimer made several movies together. (Make the time to check out Frankenheimer’s other political thriller THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE [1962] – it will knock your socks off!) But what captures my attention is the pairing of the two big kahunas in this movie: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, playing opposite sides of the same team.

These two leading men played together in several films (I WALK ALONE, 1947; GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, 1957; THE DEVIL’S DISCIPLE, 1959; THE LIST OF ADRIAN MESSENGER, 1963; VICTORY AT ENTEBBE, 1976; and TOUGH GUYS, 1986). Forty years of teaming. They each play the good guy or bad; weak man or strong. They’re both comfortable in a nightclub or home on the range on a horse. Amazing how parallel their career trajectory is to each other. Both actors burst onto the screen in 1946: Lancaster with THE KILLERS (1946) and Kirk Douglas in THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946). They’re both coiled snakes in films though they can tamp down their intensity depending on which actor’s character has the upper hand in their joint appearances. Here, Lancaster is the rogue alpha male, while Douglas has the more complex role of being torn between his admiration and loyalty to his commanding officer and his oath to the Constitution.

SEVEN DAYS IN MAY is one of the great political dramas like FAIL-SAFE (1964), ADVISE AND CONSENT (1962), THE BEST MAN (1964) and ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976). Again, no spoilers, but this movie couldn’t be more relevant in today’s political climate if you put tarp over a battleship.