My Review of Seconds (1966)

 

Written by Lewis John Carlino

Directed by John Frankenheimer

Emily (to Tony): "You see, Arthur had been dead a long, long time before they found him in that hotel room."

This year I do plan to watch more older movies and this was one that I've been wanting to watch for a good while now. I'm really glad I did because this has a great premise and a very dark ending.

The premise focused on middle aged banker, Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph). Arthur was in a marriage to Emily (Frances Reid) where the love had dwindled and his daughter was distant from him. He was bored and in desperate need to change things.

Thanks to a recommendation from childhood friend, Charlie (Murray Hamilton), Arthur was about to get the chance of a whole new life. Granted it was one that would cost him $30,000, involve extensive plastic surgery and oh, some rather devious blackmailing thanks to the Associates of the mystery company. 

Despite Arthur not liking being strong armed into it, he agreed to the procedure and soon became Antiochus "Tony" Wilson (Rock Hudson). Yes, he looked over a decade younger, became an artist, relocated and even got briefly involved with the mysterious Nora (Salome Jens). 

It seemed like Tony's new life was going perfect but then he made a total drunken fool out of himself during a social gathering he organised. That was a mistake that made him into a liability and Tony wanting another life also didn't help matters.

Now for me, it's the last scene that really sold this movie. It's a frightening culmination of Arthur/Tony's entire story and one that sadly made sense, given the lengths he went to get this life to begin with. It's a really chilling ending.

- Based on a book of the same name by David Ely. The movie in 2015 was selected by the National Film Registry for preservation.

- Yes, there was controversy for the full frontal female nudity that appeared in the movie.

- The depiction of plastic surgery on Arthur/Tony actually had real shots of a rhinoplasty operation.

- Chronology: Scarsdale, New York City and Malibu, California. Several months pass during the movie.

Seconds was certainly a doozy of a movie. The discontented protagonist given the chance of a new life, squandering it's potential and suffering the fatal consequences for it. Great performances from both Rock Hudson and Jack Randolph and that last scene as I said earlier was chilling.

Rating: 9 out of 10