The reason the original "Seven Days in May" was so compelling was that it came against the backdrop of very real events.
It was the middle of the Cold War. The very name of President Jordan Lyman (Played by Frederic March) turned out to be very similar -- almost an anagram -- of the real-life President Lyndon Johnson, whose campaign to win a full four-year term in 1964 was anchored, in part, on a promise to seek an agreement with the Soviet Union on a reduction in nuclear arms.
And it was taken far more seriously than the two other Cold War thrillers of 1964, "Dr. Strangelove" and "Fail-Safe." "The Enemy Within" fails from the start because it was made after the Cold War ended and unfortunately, the storyline wasn't updated accordingly. A far more successful remake would have been one that was made post-September 11 with the War on Terror as the backdrop.
It was the middle of the Cold War. The very name of President Jordan Lyman (Played by Frederic March) turned out to be very similar -- almost an anagram -- of the real-life President Lyndon Johnson, whose campaign to win a full four-year term in 1964 was anchored, in part, on a promise to seek an agreement with the Soviet Union on a reduction in nuclear arms.
And it was taken far more seriously than the two other Cold War thrillers of 1964, "Dr. Strangelove" and "Fail-Safe." "The Enemy Within" fails from the start because it was made after the Cold War ended and unfortunately, the storyline wasn't updated accordingly. A far more successful remake would have been one that was made post-September 11 with the War on Terror as the backdrop.