Review of Seconds (1966) by Tim S — 03 Jun 2015

Up until 1966, John Frankenheimer was known primarily for making political thrillers. Venturing out of the box he made Seconds, which was based on a novel by David Ely about a man who deciding that, after a long and unsatisfactory life, would pay a company a large sum of money to completely change his identity and become someone new.

Seconds, at least in the first half of the film, is very much akin to an episode of The Twilight Zone, but comes off very much as a Roman Polanski or French New Wave project. It's basically science fiction in form, but functions more as a human drama.

It's unique visual style for the time, courtesy of cinematographer James Wong Howe, gave a certain panache that many other films didn't have. The story, and its eventual outcome, were certainly not the typical Hollywood outcome at the time.

The only Hollywood type aspect to the film was the presence of Rock Hudson in the lead role. It was ultimately an opportunity for the actor to perform in a more unusual role than he was accustomed to.

Critics at the time of the film's release didn't care for the film, however. It wasn't well-received, but over the years, it became a cult classic. Elements vital to the film, including those previously mentioned, as well as Jerry Goldsmith's haunting score, and just the adaptation of the book itself by Lewis John Carlino, have been re-evaluated and appreciated by contemporary audiences and critics.