Seconds (Criterion Collection) Blu-ray Review

After watching John Frankenheimer‘s Seconds (1966) for the first time with this Criterion Blu-ray, I couldn’t help but think of several previous Criterion Blu-ray titles that came to mind. Films such as Alexander Mackendrick‘s Sweet Smell of Success, Roman Polanski‘s Repulsion and Robert Aldrich‘s Kiss Me Deadly. You could even through in the feel of a Samuel Fuller film and even a little of Ingmar Bergman‘s Persona. For anyone that knows these films, that’s pretty high praise and while Seconds may be better than a couple and below the others, the mere fact this film put me in the mood and mindset to even consider the comparisons is enough for me to say you really ought to give this one a look.

Based on the novel by David Ely, I can’t remember if Seconds ever gives us a definitive date in which it’s set, but suffice to say it’s a future-based (given its release date), neo-noir thriller you could classify as a sci-fi, but to settle on calling it a paranoid thriller should suffice.

The film centers on the story of a middle-aged man, going about his workaday life in an ever-habitual fashion. Married, with a traditional job as a banker, it’s obvious he’s lost his lust for life. So, when the phone rings and on the other end of the line is a friend he believed to be dead, offering an opportunity that would change his life and very existence, his curiosity can’t help but be piqued.

As it turns out he’s being offered a second chance. An opportunity to put his current life behind him and begin fresh. His death will be faked and he’ll be given a new face, name and existence. His willingness to do so, however, means leaving behind his wife, daughter and everything he ever knew. He decides to go through with it and the film traverses the consequences with a strong performance from Rock Hudson as the newly transformed version of the man that once was.

Hopefully the comparisons I’ve drawn above give you an idea of how the story progresses, if not watch those films now (I’ve provided links below) and prepare yourself for excellence. Perhaps the most obvious comparison is that of Sweet Smell of Success, which isn’t a narrative comparison, but a visual one. Both films were shot by James Wong Howe, whom Frankenheimer can’t say enough about in the included audio commentary originally recorded in 1997. Howe’s work here is intimate and immediate as well as occasionally voyeuristic. His use of light, shadow and close-ups in conjunction with the work of Hudson gives the film a sense of urgency that keeps you on edge for the duration and with this new 4K digital restoration every tiny detail is on display.

Film grain is strong with this one, but not to distracting levels, and the audio satisfies in its presentation of Jerry Goldsmith‘s score.

The highlights of the supplement package begin with Frankenheimer’s audio commentary, which may be 16-years-old, but it’s fantastic in its details including how they shot in New York’s Grand Central Station by diverting attention with a Playboy model, how they shot the grape-stomping sequence and the NFL players they needed to hold Hudson down as he’s wheeled on a gurney in the film’s closing moments. The brand new 20-minute feature including interviews with Evans Frankenheimer (John’s widow) and actor Salome Jens is also great as is the visual essay from film scholars R. Barton Palmer and Murray Pomerance.

Additional features include an interview with Alec Baldwin, which I found a little over-the-top and annoying considering how impressed with himself Baldwin seems to be, an interview with Frankenheimer from 1971 and excerpts from “Hollywood on the Hudson”, a 1965 television program featuring on-set footage and an interview with Hudson.

Finally, a booklet is included with an essay from film critic David Sterritt, which isn’t yet available online, but is a solid read and informed me Seconds is actually the third film in Frankenheimer’s unofficial “paranoia trilogy” along with 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate and 1964’s Seven Days in May. The latter of these two I haven’t seen, but the former is vastly superior to the unsatisfying 2004 remake by Jonathan Demme.

Overall I have no problem recommending this title as a blind buy, especially if anything I’ve said and/or compared this movie to has attracted your attention. Thrillers aren’t done like this nowadays. The opening is far too subtle for today’s audiences and the ending too bleak, which is one reason to stack your collection with similar titles and make sure your cup runneth over just in case the occasion calls for it.

You can pick up the Blu-ray version at Amazon right here and the DVD edition here.

I’ve also included Criterion’s “Three Reasons” video for this release just below, which highlights Howe’s camerawork (notice the almost GoPro aspect of the shots through Grand Central) and, while it’s not mentioned, Goldsmith’s score, which is both haunting, searing and gothic in tone.

It’s interesting they don’t include Saul Bass‘ opening title sequence as one of their three, since it’s such an easy target for the online masses, but I’d say it’s probably best left aside. It isn’t one of Bass’ best and the film has so many other, more impressive qualities. I have included the opening titles below, though, for those interested.

Oh, and here are links to the films I name checked at the beginning of this review: