Kick-Back Friday: #108

On the basis of his success with The Manchurian Candidate (1962), director John Frankenheimer was able to assemble a similar behind-the scenes crew for another B&W political thriller, Seven Days in May (1964). This time, however, Rod Serling (not George Axelrod) penned the highly effective screenplay.

The movie, based on a popular novel of the same name, is the story of an attempted military coup in the United States, spearheaded by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Burt Lancaster). The planned coup is in response to a nuclear disarmament treaty signed by an unpopular President (Fredric March). Kirk Douglas plays Lancaster's right-hand military man, who alerts the Administration to his boss's overthrow plot.

The soul-searching dialog, as noted by Frankenheimer in the DVD commentary, is pure Serling:

General Scott (Lancaster): You're a night crawler, Colonel. A peddler. You sell information. Are you sufficiently up on your Bible to know who Judas was?

Colonel Casey (Douglas): I suggest you read that letter, sir. It's from the President.

General Scott: I asked you a question.

Colonel Casey (hesitantly): Are you ordering me to answer, sir?

General Scott (angrily): I am!

Colonel Casey (calmy, stoically): Yes, I know who Judas was. He was a man I worked for and admired...until he disgraced the four stars on his uniform.