Suplício de um Condenado

Dick Powell directed "Split Second," a B movie starring Stephen McNally, Jan Sterling, Alexis Smith, Richard Egan, and Keith Andes, about prisoners and their hostages at an atomic test site. McNally, meaner than dirt, escapes from prison with two cronies, one of whom has been badly wounded. At a gas station, they carjack Alexis Smith and her boyfriend. Before long, they have four hostages: Keith Andes, who plays a reporter, and Jan Sterling, who hitched a ride with him. They all wind up on an atomic bomb test site, and there's a test set for the next day. Since Smith's husband is a doctor, McNally calls him and threatens him with Smith's life so he will come and save the wounded escapee.

Seen with modern eyes, the friendship between McNally and his injured pal is something to behold. McNally is a cruel tough guy who becomes gentle when speaking to his friend, and he's determined not to leave him behind. Hmm...Smith plays a desperate, selfish society woman who will do anything - underline anything - to get McNally to take her along when he leaves, and in fact, they have a protracted time together in another room. She's a real piece of work. Richard Egan is her husband, who arrives to help the wounded prisoner.

Keith Andes was a handsome man whose major career was in television, and his beautiful singing voice and masculine presence brought him Broadway success as well, particularly costarring with Lucille Ball in "Wildcat." He does a good job here, as does Jan Sterling - they are two people caught in bad circumstances who happen to fall in love along the way. McNally is as nasty as they come - another fine performance of a low-life.

Dick Powell's direction has a sure hand, and the tension mounts as the film continues. A very good B movie, but not really noir as has been suggested.

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!

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

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.