“Seconds” is a thriller and science-fiction (of sorts), directed by John Frankenheimer (known for “The Manchurian Candidate”, “Birdman of Alcatraz”, and “Ronin”) and starring Rock Hudson. It tells the story of an older man in a life he doesn’t like, having a mid-life crisis. He is approached by a mysterious company that offers him a whole new life. They will perform plastic surgery to change his appearance and set him up with a new identity and a lifestyle that should be free and fun. The protagonist finds that he can run from his problems, but he cannot run from himself.

The director makes the decision to start the story shortly after the protagonist Arthur Hamilton has been approached for the first time. We don’t know that immediately, but it explains much of Hamilton’s air of anxiety. At the station the camera follows the man from a low angle, taking in bystanders in a way that immediately feels threatening, and in fact shortly Hamilton is accosted by a stranger with a message. The camera lingers on the face of Hamilton, (initially played by John Randolph) as he sits in the train, looking stressed and unhappy. The feeling of claustrophobia and threat is apparent right from the start. Frequently the camera follows Hamilton/Wilson while ambient noise drowns out words and conversation. This conveys a sense of helplessness – the protagonist seems to be on a rollercoaster of events being orchestrated by others without the strength to put on the brakes.

There is interesting cinematography by James Howe, where the way the camera pans through a scene, closing in on faces in a way that enhances the claustrophobic sense of unease. The scene at the wine festival is a particularly good example of this, where the camera moves through the orgy in the big tub, where everyone is naked and drunk. Faces zoom in close, in and out of focus, enhancing the confusion and out of control vibes. The scene where Hamilton has been drugged and experiences an event he believes to be a hallucination (only to find it is real and a means of manipulating him) is also done very well, with expressionist angles, tilting floors, and again closeups on Hamilton and the girl he is approaching. The audience feels confident in assuming this is a hallucination, until finding out along with Hamilton that it is not.

The way that sound is used throughout the movie, and its juxtaposition with silence, is also very effective. Sometimes the sound is used to drown out the actual important conversation, such as when Hamilton enters the butchers and all that can be heard while the camera follows him is the squeaking of meat hooks and a man yelling at his staff. The score (composed by Jerry Goldsmith) is also excellent, fitting to the mood of the film and put to use effectively to enhance the mood.

The film is regarded as science fiction, though it takes place in a contemporary environment. The mysterious company that sells its services to frustrated men manages to perform feats of plastic surgery that seem unlikely even today, let alone in the sixties. It is not just a matter of a face lift – the older man’s body is transformed into a younger and better looking model (Rock Hudson.)  Even fingerprints are changed. The new identity involves paperwork that is not actually a forgery as the company buys what is needed from the places they need it from ie Hamilton/Wilson’s art qualifications are real certifications from actual schools. They manipulate him psychologically in ways that seem unlikely at the time. That is the extent of its ‘science fiction’.

It’s description as a psychological thriller is far more apt. They are watching this man and drug him in order to set him up for blackmail. But their real intent is to persuade him to accept their offer. They are very certain of the people they approach – they seem to know which men will willingly accept such extreme means in order to escape a distasteful life. The protagonist has a great life, really. He’s successful in his job, has a wife, nice house, etc etc. But he doesn’t like it, He feels unfulfilled. He has withdrawn from his wife and is showing every sign of depression. Counselling might have been a less extreme solution to his problem. The problem with Hamilton/Wilson is that he is a bit of an idiot. He goes to a location on the basis of mystery phone calls and messages. He has no idea who these people are or what might happen to him, but he goes. The company admits to drugging and compromising him, and yet he listens to the manipulative talk (“You want this really” etc) and signs their contract without reading it. (Remember he’s a banker.) After he is packed off to his new location in his new body he finds a man in his house who is going to ‘help’ with his adjustment. The man is clearly there to keep an eye on him. His depression continues (because he is still the same person). He eventually meets a woman on the beach who acts in a very strange way, and he would have every reason for thinking her to be disturbed. Instead he accompanies her to a grape picking event which turns into a naked orgy, in which he participates. (It seems he can be more uninhibited if he is drunk.) When he finally agrees to host a party at his house, he deals with this by becoming very drunk, and starts babbling about his previous life. The men in the house overpower him and drag him into another room, where he finds out that they’re all customers of the company as well. Basically he’s been placed in an enclave with other people in the same situation.

Without giving away the ending, let us just say that this doesn’t end well for the protagonist. He stupidly goes to see his wife, pretending to be a friend of her husband, and she says her husband was defined more by his silence than anything else. Then he is intercepted by company employees and is escorted back to the company. (He finds that the woman on the beach he’d been having a fling with was another company employee). Wilson concludes that his situation has gone wrong because other people are making decisions for him. What they need to do is make him over again and let him go his own way. He’ll be okay, he thinks, as long as he can make his own decisions. What the whole film has showed us, however, is that he is no good at making his own decisions. He has allowed himself to be talked into a situation that he doesn’t even understand on the vague assumption that it’s going to be better than what he has. He has no regard for his wife or his daughter when he agrees to fake his death. He is actually a very self-centred individual – the audience is less empathising with him and more watching in horrified fascination at a narcissistic implosion. The ending is brilliantly done, absolutely chilling, but not surprising.

“Seconds” is an excellent and extremely suspenseful film and is often considered to be one of Rock Hudson’s best performances. The cast and direction combine to create a very good thriller which will keep you glued to the screen until the end. I strongly recommend this one, it’s superb.