SEVEN DAYS IN MAY

Two Washington newsmen provide a look into the future for a story of an attempt to overthrow the government and garnish it well with interesting details and a careful consideration of the many aspects of the situation. Twelve years from now a nuclear disarmament treaty is signed with Russia. Americans in general fear economic upheaval and Communist duplicity, and Right-wingers, with most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plan to take over the administration during a test alert. How this is plotted, carried through -- and averted, should add up to a real thriller but the effect is marred by an inability to hold attention, by repetition, and by a prosaic approach to the possible suspense. In spite of some good sequences, this does not come off quite the way it was planned.