Main Cast: Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, Arthur Hunnicutt
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 85 minutes
Plot
Actor Dick Powell made an impressive film debut with the taut atomic-age suspenser Split Second. Convicts Stephen McNally, Paul Kelly and Frank DeKova escape to a ghost town in the Nevada desert. Only it isn't exactly a ghost town, but a "dummy village" constructed for the purpose of A-bomb testing. The criminals hold several hostages, including reporter Keith Andes, nightclub singer Jan Sterling, selfish socialite Alexis Smith, her doctor-husband Richard Egan and her newest boyfriend Robert Paige. Andes suspects that the deserted town is at Ground Zero of the latest bomb test, but he can't convince the convicts until it's almost too late. The best and most horrifying sequence occurs near the end, when the criminals, accompanied by the duplicitous Ms. Smith, discover that they're driving towards the A-bomb target instead of away from it. Novelist Irving Wallace collaborated on the script of Split Second with Chester Erskine and William Bowers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Not as well known as it should be but a favorite of many who know it, Split Second is an incredibly tense film noir-cum-atomic bomb flick that marked an auspicious directorial debut for singer-actor Dick Powell. As an actor, Powell knew his way around crime melodramas, and he brings his experience in that genre to Second. While there are holes in the script, and the basic "mix of characters all trapped together in one location" routine is familiar, Powell plays it for all its worth. It also helps that the threat of an atomic blast hangs over the film, naturally adding to the tension and giving the characters a truly imposing and frightening deadline to play against. Powell is aided in his efforts by the first rate black-and-white cinematography of Nick Musuraca, whose crisp work drips with atmosphere and creates a visual tension of its own. The cast does not disappoint either, with fine work from all but especially good turns from Stephen McNally, Paul Kelly, Jan Sterling and a truly despicable Alexis Smith. Second's ending is especially memorable, and Richard Egan's "world of tomorrow" comment must have been quite shocking in 1953. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
