Seven Days in May (1964)

Kirk Douglas plays an advisor who helps the US President uncover evidence of a military takeover of the government from within.

Douglas' direct commander is played by Burt Lancaster, whom the President doesn't trust.

Burt is really unlikable in this film.

Ava Gardner has a small part as Burt's former lover who might hold some secrets to help uncover the plot.

Frederic March plays the President, and he makes a really good one, too; I wished his character was our President today.

It's a really good fictional thriller (though based on some real events). I really liked it. Directed by John Frankenheimer (also directed The Manchurian Candidate).

According to the history blog Boundary Stones, US President John F. Kennedy read and enjoyed the original novel which this film is based, and wanted to see a film made of it. Frankenheimer shot on location in Washington DC, and had the approval of the President, who unfortunately did not live to see the film.

The film was released a few months after President Kennedy's assassination. For audiences at that time, it must have a bit frightening to see such a politically-charged film so soon afterward.

Jacqueline of Another Old Movie Blog discussed this film in an excellent 2016 post here, noting how it remains relevant today.

Bill Crider also wrote about this movie, having remembered the original novel of which it was based, and another good post about this film from Movie Magg.

Orson Welles' The Stranger (1946)

Welles is chilling as a Nazi fugitive posing as a professor in a small New England town.

He marries a sweet Loretta Young, but she soon starts to suspect him.

On his trail is detective Edward G. Robinson who uncovers some very disturbing things about his past.

The climax involves a chase up a clock tower.

Welles' character is really nasty. Excellent post-war psychological thriller. 

Read the Wikipedia post

Read Laura's review at her blog.

The Conversation (1974)

"Brilliant film about an obsessive surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) who makes a mistake of becoming too involved in a case and finds himself entangled in murder and high-level power plays." (From Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide).

I love this movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It takes place in San Francisco, and a key surveillance sequence takes place in Union Square.

On my trip to there last month I got the chance to see this park, which was really neat. It's changed a bit in 40 years, but it still draws a large crowd just as it did back then.

This film is really thrilling, and has great performances by Gene Hackman and John Cazale, and a very earlyl movie role for Harrison Ford, who follows Hackman through a convention hall. It holds up pretty well after nearly 40 years even though some of the technology is a bit dated.

With Robert Duvall, Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest, and Cindy Williams.

13 Rue Madeline (1947)

Black and White film starring James Cagney. An OK movie about a spy during WWII in Paris.