Douglas plays Jiggs Casey, a military intelligence type who works in the Pentagon. He works with Lancaster, who is head of joint chiefs of staff. President Frederic March has just signed a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia, and it's causing a lot of political turmoil. The movie starts with pro- and anti-disarmament protesters marching in front of the White House, and coming to blows. This is filmed in a very hand-held documentary style. I'm not sure whether this came from Frankenheimer or DP Ellsworth Fredricks.
Lancaster is an outspoken hawk, who doesn't believe that the Russians can be trusted to keep the treaty. Douglas agrees, but feels like the matter has been settled by the duly elected government. But he keeps getting hints about an off-the-books military operation called ECOMCON. He starts poking around, keeping his ears open at cocktail parties and talking to old buddies. He even plays up to Eva Gardner, Lancaster's ex-mistress.
I guess it isn't a spoiler to say that Lancaster is planning a military coup, including a pre-emptive strike on Russia. The spoiler would be how it is how they stop it.
This movie feels very real, with more bureaucratic infighting than gun or fist fighting. Frankenheimer even managed to get some real shots of the Pentagon, which looks appropriately drab. The Rod Serling script has a few nice twists and turns, as well as plenty of tension. Plus, it isn't exactly relevant to the current political situation, but it isn't exactly not relevant either.
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