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:

New Identity | Surgery | Artist | Painting | Train

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:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Gibraltar Productions

Trivia:

The mounted fish over Arthur's mantle belonged to John Frankenheimer.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the grape crushing scene, Tony Wilson's girlfriend, Nora, starts to strip-off. Her dress is unzipped down the back. The next shot it is clearly zipped to the top and then unzipped again in the next shot.

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)

Seconds : a realistic tale of suffocating paranoia

"Seconds" is a fascinating and engrossing realistic fantasy tale that deals with the question of the identity and above all, the exploration of madness symbolized by the search of material happiness and the search of eternal youth which leads to the most claustrophobic fate. "Please be yourself !" can be the warning of this film. The innovative and the post-expressionist cinematography of James Wong Howe (the use of the 9.7 mm fish-eye lens, extreme chiaroscuro, tilted low angle shots, hand-held camera shots) combined with the stylish graphic work of Saul Bass and a cold, taut and harsh music of Jerry Goldsmith makes it like a Faustian tragedy with a Kafkaesque approach. The whole film is about distortion. The twisted vision of the main character trapped in his own nightmarish world, full of "re-borns" and "employees". But the real nightmare is the dreary routine of his existence. For instance, the scene of the train when Arthur Hamilton is reading his newspaper and feels suddenly sick with his life. We see very short shots of the train window and his sad face. The more oppressive scenes are silent just extreme close-ups of faces. Perhaps, the best film directed by John Frankenheimer and the best paranoiac film ever created. "Classic" is a weak word to define this masterpiece of modern terror. "Seconds" is the last film of the John Frankenheimer's paranoiac trilogy, without forgetting : "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Seven days in may".