Seconds
Who are SECONDS? The answer is almost too terrifying for words!
Country
Genre
Budget
$2 500 000
Box office
$1 750 000
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Audition
Editing
Short description
An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity; one that comes with its own price.
What's left behind the scenes
- In order to film calmly in the building of the Central Station in New York, without attracting undue attention, director John Frankenheimer (1930-2002) hired Playboy models (a man and a woman), staged a supposed photoshoot for them on the stairs, and filmed everything he needed with a camera hidden in luggage while the public watched the “diversionary maneuver.”
- Today, this film is considered a classic, but at the Cannes Film Festival, critics literally tore it apart, and John Frankenheimer, who was filming the sports drama “Grand Prix” (1966) in Monte Carlo, even refused to interrupt filming to meet with reporters. He sent one of the actors from “Seconds,” Rock Hudson (1925-1985), to the press conference instead of himself, who was unable to answer any of the questions posed by the hostile journalists.
- The scene of the plastic surgery performed on John Randolph’s (1915-2004) character included several shots of a real operation (to change the shape of the nose). The director himself filmed some of them after the cinematographer, James Wong Howe (1899-1976), felt sick from what he saw.
- Rock Hudson was nearly 5 inches taller than John Randolph. This is not noticeable on screen thanks to the careful selection of the shooting angle. Before filming began, Hudson and Randolph spent a lot of time together, allowing Hudson to observe Randolph and adopt some of his mannerisms.
- According to director John Frankenheimer, the idea of casting two different actors for the roles of Arthur Hamilton and Tony Wilson was suggested by Hudson. He always opposed having the same actor play these characters, simply with different makeup. Hudson immediately stated that he would not look convincing as Hamilton and that he would only play Wilson. Frankenheimer agreed and subsequently decided it was a good idea.
- This is the only film in the 'paranoid trilogy' that does not touch upon military themes. Both 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Seven Days in May' are political thrillers about the military uncovering major conspiracies, whereas this film doesn't mention war, the military, or related subjects in a single word.
- The only film in the 'paranoid trilogy' that does not touch upon military themes. While both 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Seven Days in May' are political thrillers about military personnel uncovering major conspiracies, in this film, war, the military, and similar topics are not mentioned a single time.
- To film quietly in New York's Grand Central Terminal without attracting too much attention, director John Frankenheimer (1930-2002) hired Playboy models (a man and a woman) to stage a fake photo shoot on the stairs; he then captured everything he needed using a camera hidden in luggage while the public stared at the 'diversion.'
- Nowadays, this film is considered a classic, but critics at the Cannes Film Festival absolutely tore it apart. John Frankenheimer, who was filming the sports drama 'Grand Prix' (1966) in Monte Carlo, even refused to interrupt filming to meet with reporters. Instead, he sent Rock Hudson (1925-1985), one of the actors from 'The Second Time,' to the press conference, who was unable to answer a single question posed by the hostile journalists.
- The plastic surgery scene performed on John Randolph's (1915-2004) character included several shots of a real operation (a rhinoplasty). Some of these were filmed by the director himself after the cinematographer, James Wong Howe (1899-1976), felt sick from what he saw.
- Rock Hudson was nearly 13 cm taller than John Randolph. This is not noticeable on screen thanks to the careful selection of camera angles. Before filming began, Hudson and Randolph spent a lot of time talking and hanging out together, which allowed Hudson to observe Randolph and adopt some of his mannerisms.
- According to director John Frankenheimer, the idea to cast two different actors for the roles of Arthur Hamilton and Tony Wilson was suggested by Hudson. He had always been opposed to having these characters played by the same actor using different makeup. Hudson stated immediately that he would be unconvincing as Hamilton and would only play Wilson. Frankenheimer agreed and later decided that it was a good idea.
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Auditions in India
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Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
