John Frankenheimer's SECONDS is one of my top ten favorite films. A man (played by once blacklisted actor John Randolph) with a successful but empty life accepts the mysterious offer of a way to break free. Through the secretive operations of a well-guarded corporation, the man is "reborn" into a new identity and a second chance. A terrific script with every line meaningful, the man makes some existential revelations and makes a daring turnaround. Reportedly, Rock Hudson had to fight to be cast in the role of the second identity, and has said that this was his favorite film. Trust me, this is far and away unlike anything else he's done. This film is one of the three or four that have ever given me the genuine creeps: thanks largely to the great James Wong Howe's cinematography, the opening scene in NYC's Grand Central Station is actually nauseating (in a good way). And the final sequence is one of the very few in the history of film that have genuinely frightened me. The video release (finally!) of appx 1996 contains a scene that I don't remember being in the film the first time I saw it: the bacchanalian wine-making orgy. I'm unsure whether I like this scene or not: it fits the storyline, but its tone is grossly out of tune with the rest of the film (but maybe that was intentional, given the context and theme). Performances all around are perfection, and thanks to Frankenheimer for allowing two great actors - John Randolph and Will Geer - to play a crucial and emotional scene of five (or so) minutes continuously (that is, with no cuts). That's the best way to prove to an audience which actors can really act!
