Seconds

Genre: science-fiction drama (in black and white)

With: John Randolph (Arthur Hamilton), Frances Reid (Emily Hamilton), Murray Hamilton (Charlie Evans), Jeff Corey (Mr. Ruby), Will Geer (Old Man), Richard Anderson (Dr. Innes), Rock Hudson (Antiochus Wilson), Wesley Addy (John), Salome Jens (Nora Marcus), Nedrick Young (Henry Bushman), Dodie Heath (Mrs. Bushman), Karl Swenson (Morris)

Director: John Frankenheimer

Screenplay: Lewis John Carlino (based on the novel by David Ely)

Release: 1966

Studio: Joel Productions, John Frankenheimer Productions Inc., Gibraltar Productions, Paramount Pictures

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.5/10 

 

Reach for the Gusto 

 

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Story-line: Arthur Hamilton, a middle-aged bank executive with a comfy, routine life, is suddenly rattled by outlandish events. First off, he receives a phone call so unusual he can’t talk about it. Then, a stranger on his daily commute hands him a piece of paper – an unknown address, 34 Lafayette Street. Soon after, he receives another phone call from Charlie Evans, an old friend who had died (???) several years before. ‟I’m alive!”, says Charlie. ‟More alive than I've been in the past 25 years…” Charlie proves his point – by recounting a personal moment with Arthur at a tennis tournament – and begs him to go to the Lafayette address: ‟… Come tomorrow… If you don't show up, that's it!” An overwhelmed Arthur doesn’t commit to anything but he might…   

Pluses: very credible – and at times exquisitely subtle – acting from a seasoned cast, a cold directorial style that nurtures a strange and special mood, an intense and intelligent screenplay shrouded in mystery, Oscar-nominated cinematography (by James Wong Howe), good production values, an active and purposeful musical score.  

Minuses: this is not a complaint, but something worth noticing: characters in this film, especially Arthur, sweat often and profusely.

Comments: a brilliant, existential premise is treated as a bracing mindbender far removed from ordinary life but innately linked to human nature. SECONDS is so enigmatic and unsettling that you’re never certain of what you’re seeing… yet it remains logical and grounded throughout. John Frankenheimer’s clever, orwellian film – for which he was nominated for the Palme d’or in Cannes – is proof positive that old movies are well worth your time. And if Orwell had seen it, he would have been proud of this thought-provoking sci-fi film that in fact owes little to the genre. 

 

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