
“The astounding story of an astounding military plot to take over the United States! The time is 1970 or 1980 or, possibly, tomorrow!”
A U.S. Marine Corps colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.
Release Date: 2/1/1964
Runtime: 118 minutes
Languages: English
Director: John Frankenheimer
00Companies: Joel Productions, Seven Arts Productions, Cayuga Productions, John Frankenheimer Productions Inc., Polyphony Digital
Countries: United States of America
CinemaSerf
This is an enthralling political drama that pitches Fredric March ("Pres. Lyman") against the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Burt Lancaster ("Gen. Scott") in a battle for control of the United States. When an aide to the General - "Jiggs Casey" (Kirk Douglas) notices some odd goings on, he begins to suspect that his boss is plotting - and plotting on a treasonous scale. When he brings this to the attention of the President, a race is on between the elected authorities and their military commanders to stop the scheming general from achieving his goal. Lancaster is superb as the imperious 4-star general, as are Douglas and March. The star, for me at any rate, though, is Edmond O'Brien as the regularly sozzled Senator "Clark", who is despatched to investigate the existence of a secret base - and potentially thwart the entire rogue operation. The pace is excellent, the dialogue thoughtful and penetrating leaving us with a worrying degree of paranoia - might this actually be possible?
President Jordan Lyman

Burt Lancaster
Gen. James Mattoon Scott

Kirk Douglas
Col. Martin "Jiggs" Casey

Fredric March
President Jordan Lyman

Ava Gardner
Eleanor Holbrook

Edmond O'Brien
Sen. Raymond Clark

Martin Balsam
Paul Girard

Andrew Duggan
Col. William "Mutt" Henderson

Hugh Marlowe
Harold McPherson

Whit Bissell
Sen. Frederick Prentice

Helen Kleeb
Esther Townsend

George Macready
Christopher Todd

Richard Anderson
Col. Murdock
2014