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Seven Days in May Quotes

Seven Days in May is a TV program that appeared on TV in 1970 . Seven Days in May ended its run in 1970.

It features Edward Lewis (producer) as producer, Jerry Goldsmith in charge of musical score, and Ellsworth Fredricks as head of cinematography.

Seven Days in May is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of Seven Days in May is 118 minutes long. Seven Days in May is distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The cast includes: Burt Lancaster as General James Mattoon Scott, Fredric March as President Jordan Lyman, Whit Bissell as Senator Frederick Prentice, Helen Kleeb as Esther Townsend, Ava Gardner as Eleanor Holbrook, Edmond O'Brien as Senator Raymond Clark, and Martin Balsam as Paul Girard.

Seven Days in May Quotes

Fredric March as President Jordan Lyman

  • (Fredric March) "Trimmer is a very political dog. He doesn't have many principles, but he's loyal to his friends."
  • (Fredric March) "I know what Scott's attitude on the treaty is, what's yours?"
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "I agree with General Scott, sir. I think we're being played for suckers. I think it's really your business. Yours and the Senate. You did it, and they agreed so, well, I don't see how we in the military can question it. I mean we can question it, but we can't fight it. We shouldn't, anyway."
  • (Fredric March) "Jiggs, isn't it? Isn't that what they call you?"
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "Yes sir."
  • (Fredric March) "So you, ah, you stand by the Constitution, Jiggs?"
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "I never thought of it just like that, Mr. President, but, well, that's what we got and I guess it's worked pretty well so far. I sure don't want to be the one to say we ought to change it."
  • (Fredric March) "Neither do I."
  • (Fredric March) "All right, Colonel. Let's sum it up, shall we? You're suggesting what?"
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "I'm not sure, Mr. President: just some possibilities, what we call, uh "capabilities" in military intelligence --"
  • (Fredric March) "You got something against the English language, Colonel?"
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "No, sir."
  • (Fredric March) "Then speak it plainly, if you will."
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "I'm suggesting, Mr. President, there's a military plot to take over the government. This may occur some time this coming Sunday."
  • (Fredric March) "The next step should be to your liking, Chris. Esther, call the Pentagon. Tell General Scott I want to see him right away."
  • (Helen Kleeb) "Yes, sir."
  • (Christopher Todd) "I think it's time we faced the enemy, Mr. President."
  • (Fredric March) "He's not the enemy. Scott, the Joint Chiefs, even the very emotional, very illogical lunatic fringe: they're not the enemy. The enemy's an age; a nuclear age. It happens to have killed man's faith in his ability to influence what happens to him. And out of this comes a sickness, and out of sickness a frustration, a feeling of impotence, helplessness, weakness. And from this, this desperation, we look for a champion in red, white, and blue. Every now and then a man on a white horse rides by, and we appoint him to be our personal god for the duration. For some men it was a Senator McCarthy, for others it was a General Walker, and now it's a General Scott."
  • (Fredric March) "You ever been up here before?"
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "It's a big room."
  • (Fredric March) "Too big for living and too small for a convention."

Burt Lancaster as General James Mattoon Scott

  • (Burt Lancaster) "There hasn't been a single piece of paper written in the history of mankind that could serve as a deterrent to a Pearl Harbor. I sometimes wonder why we haven't learned that lesson by now. Every 20 years or so we have to pick ourselves up off the floor bleeding and pay for that mistake. Those mistakes are delivered to us C.O.D. by peace loving men. And bought and paid for with the lives of other men. Men in uniform."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "I think the signing of a nuclear disarmament pact with the Soviet Union is at best an act of naiveté and at worst an unsupportable negligence. We've stayed alive because we've built up an arsenal, and we've kept the peace because we've dealt with an enemy who knew we would use that arsenal. And now we're asked to believe that a piece of paper will take the place of missile sites and Polaris submarines, and that an enemy who hasn't honored one solemn treaty in the history of its existence will now, for our convenience, do precisely that. I have strong doubts, gentlemen."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "And if you want to talk about your oath of office, I'm here to tell you face to face, President Lyman, that you violated that oath when you stripped this country of its muscles; when you deliberately played upon the fear and fatigue of the people and told them they could remove that fear by the stroke of a pen. And then when this nation rejected you, lost faith in you, and began militantly to oppose you, you violated that oath by not resigning from office and turning the country over to someone who could represent the people of the United States."
  • (Fredric March) "And that would be General James Mattoon Scott, would it? I don't know whether to laugh at that kind of megalomania, or simply cry."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "James Mattoon Scott, as you put it, hasn't the slightest interest in his own glorification. But he does have an abiding interest in the survival of this country."
  • (Fredric March) "Then, by God, run for office. You have such a fervent, passionate, evangelical faith in this country; why in the name of God don't you have any faith in the system of government you're so hell-bent to protect?"

Whit Bissell as Senator Frederick Prentice

  • (Whit Bissell) "Ah, it's as simple as this: the President trusts Russia, and the American people don't. The people don't believe the Russians're going to take those bombs apart on July 1st, and neither do I."
  • (Whit Bissell) "You make me think that fruit salad on your chest is for neutrality, evasiveness, and fence-straddling."
  • (Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey) "On the contrary, Senator, they're standard awards for cocktail courage and dinner-table heroism. I thought you'd invented them."

Edmond O'Brien as Senator Raymond Clark

  • (Edmond O'Brien) "You stay put right here -- I'm going to phone the White House. Tell you what, friend: when this is over you can take off your girdle and have yourself a real good cry. Say, uh, you got a dime to stop a revolution with?"
  • (Bar Girl) "You want to dance?"
  • (Edmond O'Brien) "No, thank you, honey. I just had a hernia operation."
  • (Edmond O'Brien) "All you've got to know is this: right now the government of the United States is sitting on top of the Washington Monument, right on the very point, tilting right and left and ready to fall off and break up on the pavement. There are just a handful of men that can prevent it. And you're one of them."
  • (Edmond O'Brien) "Ah, don't get your nanny up; you knew there'd be some dislocations. You can't gear a country's economy for war for 20 years, then suddenly slam on the brakes and expect the whole transition to go like grease through a goose. Hmph. Doesn't work out like that. And think how the whole psychology of the thing's been screwed up from the outset. We've been hating the Russians for a quarter of a century. Suddenly we sign a treaty that says in two months they're to dismantle their bombs, we're to dismantle ours, and we all ride to a peaceful glory. This country will probably live as if peace were just as big a threat as war."
  • (Fredric March) "Dammit, Ray, we could've had our paradise. Yes, by God, we could've had full employment, whopping Gross National Product, nice cushy feeling that we've got a bomb for every one of theirs. But just as sure as God made the state of Georgia, there'd've come one day when they'd've blown us up, or we'd've blown them up. My doctor worries about my blood pressure. You know who that gentleman is down there with the black box. There are five of them -- you know that one of them sits outside my bedroom at night? You know what he carries in that box: the codes. The codes by which I, Jordan Lyman, can give the orders sending us into a nuclear war. Instead of my blood pressure, Horace should worry about my sanity."
  • (Edmond O'Brien) "Do you rent space in that thing?"
  • (Edmond O'Brien) "Jordy Boy, right now, short of a Confederate miracle, you're going to be walking in a parade with both your legs cut off. But I'm not going to make matters worse by getting drunk on the job."

Martin Balsam as Paul Girard

  • (Martin Balsam) "Admiral, I understand you're not much of a betting man."
  • (Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell) "It depends on the game."
  • (Martin Balsam) "Hmm. What is your pleasure -- poker -- roulette -- what?"
  • (Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell) "No, those are house games. I don't much care for the odds."
  • (Martin Balsam) "What about horse racing?"
  • (Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell) "On occasion -- it depends on the race -- sometimes the weather -- and the horse does make the difference."
  • (Martin Balsam) "Hmm. That's true, that's true. What about the Preakness? Have you got anything good going there?"
  • (Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell) "I only bet on sure things."
  • (Martin Balsam) "Admiral, you're a very lucky sailor. That's exactly what I've got for you: a sure thing."
  • (Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell) "What is the bet, Mr. Girard?"
  • (Martin Balsam) "The bet is that there are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who are involved in treason. We know who they are, we know the essence of the plan. Now from you, Admiral, I want a signed statement indicating at what moment you first heard of this operation and your complicity in this entire matter."
  • (Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell) "Frankly, I wish I had more time."
  • (Martin Balsam) "I wish you did too, Admiral."
  • (Martin Balsam) "Unfortunately, you don't."

Ava Gardner as Eleanor Holbrook

  • (Ava Gardner) "I'll make you two promises: a very good steak, medium rare, and the truth, which is very rare."

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