Had the pleasure this week of catching up (finally) with the John Frankenheimer 1966 movie SECONDS, starring Rock Hudson.
The movie initially did poor business when it opened, in part through the casting of Rock Hudson, and the fact the role called for him to act against the audiences expectations of either the hero or the romantic lead. Based on the book by David Ely, the story tells of a bored middle-aged banker (played by John Randolph) who gets a second chance at life, and the opportunity to be re-born as a younger man through revolutionary surgery techniques offered by a shadowy private company.
Rock Hudson takes on the role of the ‘new man’ following surgery as Arthur Hamilton ‘dies’ and becomes Antiochus Wilson. To say more would spoil the movie, suffice to say this ‘new life’ is not all Hamilton was expecting. Richard Anderson plays Dr. Innes, the surgeon who performs the operation on Hamilton. Anderson has a couple of scenes a third of the way through the film, then another couple towards the end of the film.
In 2015 Eureka Entertainment released a superb Blu-Ray double disc of the movie, which has an enlightening and fascinating commentary by the director and I would definitely recommend you check it out if you can.
