Split Second

The success of this film is due largely to Dick Powell's analogy that international violence is caused by many of the same forces that trigger personal violence. Some might say the nation is the individual writ large. His pairing a detonation of an atomic bomb in preparation for a possible conflagration that would eliminate the human race with the escape from prison of a perverted hostile trio of killers hiding out in a deserted western town is indeed inspired. Add to this a clever, telling script written largely by Irving Wallace, who knew how to make today's headlines into entertaining stories, and the result is a near classic film for its genre.

Some of the best lines are given to Jan Sterling in the role of a good-hearted showgirl, Dottie Vale, who has been ridden around the block a few times. At one point in carefree desperation, she states, "looks like we're caught between the devil and the bright red bomb." The ambiance of nonchalance permeates the entire picture and helps to lessen the tension caused by the split second count down to Armageddon for the trapped hostages. Even more humor is introduced with the character of Asa Tremaine, a desert rat who attempts to tell tale tales not unlike those of Gabby Hayes. Played by Arkansas native Arthur Hunnicutt (He's buried at Greenwood, Arkansas), Asa plays a pivotal role near the conclusion of the film. The rest of the cast is effective, particularly Stephen McNally who portrays the coldblooded killer with no morals, Sam Hurley.

The story involves an assortment of personalities who unwittingly end up kidnapped by three escaped killers, one of them mute. The root of the plot centers on the interaction among the characters when their lives are stripped bare with doomsday at 6:00 am the next morning. They hold up in an abandoned town waiting for a doctor who happens to be the husband of a two-timer who is traveling with her boyfriend, now held captive by the killers. There is much edge-of-the-seat suspense as the clock clicks away the minutes.

Stephen McNally, what a mean man. Boy, could he play the bad guy >and almost make you love him. Not to condone his actions in the >flick, but to say that he acted with bravado. He had the knack >for being mean. In this film, he needs to be the "man" to stay >alive, but fate has a way of making humans small. This story is >so tight and well done, that this is a keeper. Next time it's >run turn on the VCR and hit record. It's the kind of flick that >stands up well today by fitting in with the violent control >people will always display when they are criminals on the run. >Beautiful Alexis Smith and sultry Jan Sterling bring out the >animal instincts in the men of the cast. Their looks are just as >persuasive as their acting abilities. This is a "B" movie that >rates an "A+" for showing that it could be done with the right >chemistry of the cast, director and producer. I love this type >of flick!

This film does not receive the notice it deserves; it is discovered by those who are intrigued by its gimmick--the action takes place in a ghost town scheduled to be destroyed by am atom bomb very soon, and then appreciated for its many good B/W dramatic scenes and other qualities. Dick Powell directed this taut thriller with his usual combination of good work with actors and very competent camera work. There are two plots going on here, very well interwoven by my standards; the normals in the film, led by a reporter beautifully played by Keith Andes, are those trapped in the doomed desert town; the other are those who are holding them there, a gang of criminals led by nice-guy and talented actor Stephen McNally as Sam Hurelyy-- an escaped criminal whose brutality becomes a metaphor for the violence of an Age that needs to resort to atom bomb tests. Others in the stellar cast include Jan Sterling, Robert Paige,,Alexis Smith, Richard Egan, Arthur Hunnicutt, Paul Sewart and Frank de Kova. What sets this film apart I suggest is the brutality theme which is deftly made to affect to every member of the cast. McNally as Sam Hurley equates life with getting to do whatever he wants to do to anyone by force. Andes is his chief antagonist, not a great pugilist but a brave fighter for another way of thinking about life--get on with your own priorities and leave others alone; this is by the way the real definition of heroism-- being a man who can do something well. Alexis Smith plays a woman who to save her life ignores what Hurley is, and the fact that is is planning to leave the others behind when he uses their car to drive away--with the atom bomb taking care of the evidence. The characters here are all unusually well-developed, from hoofer Sterling who distrusts everyone until Andes takes a beating from McNally protecting her, to Paige who underestimates Hurley to Hunnicutt who has run away from people to Egan who comes to save the wife who has been cheating on him, a woman who can't take responsibility, to Stewart who has to act against Hurley, his partner. It's difficult to recommend too highly such an extraordinary blend of noir brinksmanship, excellent dialogue and memorable confrontations. This drama only needed one change, to be made from the point of view of the reporter not the gang leader, to be a great film. It would lose a lot in color since it's superb black-and-white noir drama, from an age of much-better acting, writing and directing.

Split Second is directed by Dick Powell and written by William Bowers, Irving Wallace and Chester Erskine. It stars Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, Arthur Hunnicutt, Richard Egan, Paul Kelly, Robert Paige and Frank DeKova. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca.

Escaped convict Sam Hurley (McNally) is on the run with his wounded pal Bart Moore (Kelly) and henchman accomplice Dummy (DeKova). Carjacking two lots of hostages, Hurley takes them to a ghost town on an Atom Bomb test sight figuring it's the perfect place to hole up. But with Moore in need of medical help, the test bomb set to go off in the morning and tempers frayed within the group, something is going to have to give...

A taut and sweaty noir, Split Second taps into the 50s fear of the bomb and explodes the character dynamics Petrified Forest style. The premise is simple, once the character introductions are out the way, we wind our way to a bleak ghost town and stay in the company of a disparate group of people for the remainder of the film. As the clock ticks down, with the bomb set to be detonated on the town at 06.00, the various characters introduce their respective traits into the story. The tension mounts and the over-spills are often nervy, sleazy and poignant.

The makers don't soft soap the situations, but they do dangle shards of sympathy. As is the case with Hurley, who is a cold blooded killer, we know and witness this, but his back story is that of a war hero, he also has a deep affection for his injured older pal, somewhere along the line a good man lost his balance. Dottie Vale (Sterling) is a dancer, street wise and aware of how to play the situation, but sadness resides behind her waspish tongue. Kay Garven (Smith) is a lost cause, she will do anything and trample on anyone to save herself. One of the best sequences in the film finds Garven throwing herself at Hurley, the rest goes on behind closed doors, but we know what happens and it adds spice to what follows in the final third.

Not all of the characters work for dramatic impact, such as Hunnicutt's talkative miner who wanders in to the plot at the mid-point (it's amazing how easy everyone finds it to get into this supposedly secure military site!), but the dynamics work wonderfully well. Weaklings, heroes in waiting, the forlorn, the foolish or the borderline psychotic, they all make for a potent and spicy psychological stew. The suspense angle of the impending bomb detonation is water tight, as is the ebbing away of Bart Moore, directer Powell never resorts to cheap tactics or clichés to keep the noose tight, and we are constantly wondering just who, if anyone? Will survive the ordeal.

Once daylight disappears and we leave the scorching Mojave vistas behind, night time envelopes the ghost town and ace cinematographer Musuraca brings his atmospheric magic. Webb scores it with dramatic verve and the RKO effects team (headed by Harold Wellman) do sterling work to pull it all together without cheap and tacky baggage. Powell gets great performances out of McNally, Kelly, Sterling, Egan and Smith, while his ability to not let the logic holes dominate the narrative belies the fact that this was his first directing assignment.

From the ominous opening shot of two men fleeing over sun-baked mud flats, to the thrilling and darkly tinged denouement, Split Second is a coiled spring waiting to explode. 8/10

Small gem of a movie filled with faces you know. Glad I stumbled upon it today.