Seven Days in May is a novel by Fredric March.
Seven Days in May . Directed by John Frankenheimer , it stars Burt Lancaster , Kirk Douglas , Fredric March , and Ava Gardner . The screenplay was written by Rod Serling based on the novel of the same name by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II , published in September 1962 . Seven Days in May is a political thriller novel by Charles W. Bailey II and Fletcher Knebel , first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in 1962 .