Tout près de Satan

I found this film on the shelf at the local video store in a nondescript white box which listed only the title, the two leads, and only mentioned that it was a Hammer film. I had no idea what it was about. But I was curious about a Hammer film that starred Jack Palance and Jeff Chandler, so I decided to rent it. I did not regret it. I at first thought it would be a British crime thriller. Little did I expect it to be a post WW2 drama about a group of former German soldiers in charge of a bomb disposal unit. I won't go any further into the plot since the previous reviewer says most of whats important to know. The first half of this film is a bit slow, but then picks up speed and becomes really interesting. It was also interesting to see a reversal in roles for the two leads; Jack Palance who usually played villains, plays the hero here, while Jeff Chandler, who usually played heroes,plays the heavy in this one.

The one thing that intrigues me about this film, is how an American director, a mostly American cast, ended up making a film produced by a British film company with a British crew, shot on locations in Berlin, with interiors shot at Berlins UFA studios.

To put this in context, I saw this in an outdoor theater at the Marine base at Camp Pendelton, California in 1959. I can't tell you how many movies I have seen in my life time, and how very few I remember. This is the movie that came to my mind when I read of Jack Palance's death. It was a guy film all the way, I mean Jeff Chandler and Jack Palance in the same flick? Too much. After nearly 50 years, I still remember so well how the film had me sitting on the edge of my seat. The suspense related to "will this bomb go off and kill the guy" was tremendous. Remember that in it's original form the film was black and white. I can still remember the details of the defusing of the bombs, and how sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. A fine movie in it's time.

The answer to that question is, "You can't!" I saw this film when it first came out in 1959, and I recently had the opportunity to see it again after 49 long years on Turner Classic Movies. I think the thing that makes this film so memorable to me is that the two leading actors Jeff Chandler and Jack Palance were given the opportunity to "break the mold" so to speak. Chandler who always played "the good guy" and "Palance" who always played "the bad guy" got the opportunity to switch roles. Earlier in their careers Chandler played a Roman Soldier (good guy) opposite Palance's Attila (bad guy) in "Sign of the Pagan". Chandler appears to be having a ball with the role of Karl Wirtz. His speech about how his Uncle Oscar taught him how to "look out for number ono" is reminiscent of the Burt Lancaster (Joe Erin) speech about the man who raised him (Ace Hannah) and how he double crossed him as well in "Vera Cruz". Interstingly enough, both films "Ten Seconds To Hell" and "Vera Cruz" were both directed by Robert Aldrich. The film's plot is about a German Bomb Disposal Unit working for the British after WWII which make a pact that the survivors will split the spoils of their labor after the job is finished. The texture and mood of the black and white film adds to the suspense of the film. One of both Chandler and Palance's best films.

Six nonconformed former German soldiers work for the British occupation forces on defusing blind shells in Berlin. The men, of very different characters, make a bet, that those who stay alive should get half of all their pays. Indeed one after another of them perishs. So it comes to the showdown between Koertner (Jack Palance) and Wirtz (Jeff Chandler), who also compete for the affection of their host Margot (Martine Carol).

This exciting adventure movie is staged carefully by past master Robert Aldrich. He shows in fascinating details bomb deactivation and the atmosphere of Berlin lying in ruins - a striking metaphor for the devastated lifes of the characters! Chandler and Palance are believable in their roles. Psychological it impress through the description of the fatefully scratched squad, whose members are not able to get out of this suicidal job.

In short: A depressing but exciting look on World War II survivors, who battle for the reorganization of their lifes.

TEN SECONDS TO HELL belongs to the short list of movies dedicated to deminers, besides of course Kathryn Bigelow's HURTLOCKER. Maybe there are other ones, but I don't know them. Anyway this is a pure Aldrich high testoterone film as were ATTACK, EMPEROR OF THE NORTH, DIRTY DOZEN, TOO LATE THE HEROES. And the Jeff Chandler-Jack Palance choice was the best one for such a topic. It is gritty, tense and helped by an excellent character study and Martine Carol's presence. Also a bittersweet film but brilliant where American actors play German POWs, very rare and unusual. Among best of Aldrich "men" war, because the director also "women" movies. And I won't say that in this movie Jeff Chandler is the villain, but he is the less "sympathetic", compared to Jack Palance, who used us to less sympathetic roles; see what I mean? So the roles could have been reversed.