Seconds (1966)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

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:

Surgery | New Identity | Artist | Reconstructive Surgery | Unhappy Marriage

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

Also Known As:

Död man lever (Sweden) [sv]
Der Mann, der zweimal lebte (West Germany) [de]
L'opération diabolique (France) [fr]
Manden der skiftede ansigt (Denmark) [da]
Opération diabolique (Canada: French title) [fr]
Operazione diabolica (Italy) [it]
Plan diabólico (Spain) [es]
Tapaus Wilson 507 (Finland) [fi]
Tapaus Wilson 714 (Finland) [fi]
Uma Segunda Vida (Portugal) [pt]

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:

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

Goofs:

Factual errors: On the train, Hamilton begins to work crossword puzzle that appears in the first section of a major metropolitan newspaper. No newspaper of any stature runs puzzles in the first section.

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:

Featured in The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo (2007)

If You Had A Choice

During one's life, there comes a time when the wisdom accumulated during the early years does not serve to make a choice any easier in later life. There are not too many films which offer the viewer a choice to finish watching or not. When one is a youngster and watching a monster film, one can always run screaming from the theater if the scenes get frightening. That will be the reaction when you're watching this film. It starts easy enough when a middle-age man, John Randolph (Arthur Hamilton) decides to accept an offer to 'exchange' his given life, and trade it for a more youthful one. The transition is casual enough, but director John Frankenheimer, adroitly uses the Black and White images to lure not only the audience, but the subject into a false sense of security and tranquility. During the fantastic transformation from old John Randolph to youthful, handsome and attractive Antiochus 'Tony' Wilson, (Rock Hudson) he and the audience is gently beaconed and eased into the new, but alien life by a calm and compassionate guide, called the "Old Man. (Will Geer)" It's his job to ally the fears and reassure suspicions that 'everything is going to be alright.' The fact is the film is so tranquil, one hardly suspects the new life, unless the subject and the audience want to go home. John/Tony choose this option. The way back however is impossible, but only the audience is privy to it. The subject is removed from his 'second' life and given a quiet room, to collect his thoughts. It's here, the subject and the audience are once again joined by the Old Man, who will ease us not to the comfort of a New Life, but to make us aware that escape and the exit doors are twenty feet away. It's time to choose again, but you'd better hurry. The end is terrifying in it's finality. *****