Seconds (1966)

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

David Ely (novel)
Lewis John Carlino (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 October 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller | Mystery | Drama

Tagline:

What Are Seconds?... The Answer May Be Too Terrifying For Words!

Plot:

Want out of your life? Just pay the fee and we'll fake your death, change your face, and set up a new identity for you...

Plot Keywords:

First Person | Female Nudity | Snorricam | Faked Death | Airport

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Rock Hudson	...	Antiochus 'Tony' Wilson
Salome Jens	...	Nora Marcus
John Randolph	...	Arthur Hamilton
Will Geer	...	Old Man
Jeff Corey	...	Mr. Ruby
Richard Anderson	...	Dr. Innes
Murray Hamilton	...	Charlie Evans
Karl Swenson	...	Dr. Morris
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Davalo
Frances Reid	...	Emily Hamilton
Wesley Addy	...	John
John Lawrence	...	Texan
Elisabeth Fraser	...	Plump Blonde
Dodie Heath	...	Sue Bushman (as Dody Heath)
Robert Brubaker	...	Mayberry

MPAA:

Rated R for some nudity.

Runtime:

100 min | USA:107 min (re-release: 1996) | Australia:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:X (1966) (cut) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R (1996 re-release) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Gibraltar Productions

Trivia:

Nora's house is one in which John Frankenheimer formerly rented and lived.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning, when Arthur Hamilton is on the train, he gets his newspaper and starts doing crosswords with a pen in his right hand. Later on he signs the contract at the clinic with his holding the pen in his left hand.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man in Station: Mr. Hamilton?
Arthur Hamilton: Yes?
[Man in train station hands Hamilton a folded sheet of paper and turns to walk away; Hamilton stares after him, then opens the folded paper to find an address, with no explanation]

Movie Connections:

Edited into Bass on Titles (1977)

Abre los ojos,thirty years ago.

Some movies which failed when they were released became sleepers ,and in the case of "seconds" quite rightly so.It predates "Abre los ojos" (and thus "Vanilla Sky" so to speak) by 30 years !"Carnival of souls" did the same for "Jacob's ladder" and "the sixth sense".Those two works did more:they invented what we call the "indie cinema" and David Lynch's first -and best- two works owes them a great deal.

By far Rock Hudson's best performance -with the eventual exception of ,in a diametrically opposite style, "all that Heaven allows"-,"seconds" is what we can call a movie ahead of its time.The weakness some users are complaining of -the lack of psychological depth - is intentional;and if some sequences may seem long,this length inspires their vital nightmarish side -the drunken revel ,the bacchanalian dance are so unexpected that they pack a real wallop.The camera uses disturbing angles and Frankenheimer does not need a ton of special effects to exude pure primal fear.

This movie ,"the Mandchurian candidate" and "Birdman of Alcatraz are enough to make Frankenheimer go down in History of seventh art.