Review of Seconds (1966) by Gabriel K — 30 Oct 2012

Its my belief that director John Frankenheimer is sorely underated by todays film going public.

This is a shame as his body of work despite the odd turkey here and there is pretty darn good most notably the film he made in the 1960s.

This particular film flopped on release but is now viewed as being way ahead of its time and pretty darn scary to boot.

John Randolph plays Arthur Hamilton a bored subruban husband stuck in a rut at work and at home who hears from a friend he thought long dead about a project which will change his appearance and allow him to start a new life.

After some casual blackmail Arthur agrees and is transformed into Tony Wilson young playboy and sometime painter which a beach house in Calafornia.

The big shock here is that Wilson is played by Rock Hudson who hade made a name for himself playing the lead in light fluffy romantic comedies.

This film dispels the myth that Hudson could only make those types of films as he begins to crumble even with his new life in place.

Frankenheimer and his DP James Wong Howe use plenty of close ups and fish eye lenses to convey the terror at the heart of the film and how wishing for it all can sometimes lead to extreme consequences when a person starts to question their new identity.

Everything clicks here and the general creepiness of whats on show makes this a film which transcends its sixties trappings.