:
Rock Hudson,
Rock Hudson,
Salome Jens,
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:
John Frankenheimer,
John Frankenheimer
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: 
: Paramount
: Science Fiction
: 107 min.
: English, French
: English
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Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) is a listless Manhattan businessman who lives with his wife in the New York suburbs. One day, he runs into an old friend (Murray Hamilton) whom he thought had died. The friend leads him to The Company, a secretive operation run by The Old Man (Will Geer). The Company is a high-tech service which, for a price, provides older men with plastic surgery, a beefed-up body, and a fresh start in life. To cover the "disappearance," a middle-aged male cadaver is "killed" in a hotel fire. Hamilton submits to the operation that will turn him into a "Second," and when the bandages are removed, he's shed twenty years, renamed Tony Wilson and is portrayed by Rock Hudson. The Company creates a new identity for Hamilton, relocating him in a hedonistic California beach community with an identity as a painter. Celebrating during a local wine festival, Hamilton has his revelry cut short when he learns that all his new young friends are Seconds like himself and suddenly feels trapped in these surroundings. Unfortunately, finding a way out isn't nearly as easy as it was to find a way in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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| Original and Scary
by JPielaszczyk
March 29, 2005 - 12:24 PM PST
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5 out of 6 members found this review helpful
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Very well done. While watching, one perhaps recalls that it was Frankenheimer who also directed The Manchurian Candidate. Could also be described as a melodrama (fine music) or a morality play. The pacing, mise en scene, and acting between the wife and the pre-Hudson character in the early scenes are perfect. Late 50s/early 60s ambience was excellent.
The bacchanal and party scenes got tedious (as they do in general for me), but were overwhelmed by the general strength of the film. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.87)
182 Votes
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