Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free. Unlike other movies that engage the spectators time with that of the fictional characters most notably brief encounter, split second doesnt produce much suspense in the viewer. Split second is a 1953 american film noir thriller directed by dick powell about escaped convicts and their hostages holed up in a ghost town, unaware of the grave danger they are in. Staring alexis smith, stephen mcnally, jan sterling and arthur hunnicutt. Split second 1953 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. There have, apparently, been some points of contention, one of which involves the screenplay turning mcnallys character into too much of a philosopher and thus slowing. Either way, this movie is loaded with surprises, starting with its.
Split second is a 1953 american film noir thriller directed by dick powell about escaped. Split second is an odd and interesting kind of hybrid thriller. Split second 1953 not rated 1h 25min crime, drama, filmnoir 2 may 1953 usa two escaped killers take hostages and hide in a nevada mining ghost town knowing that an atom bomb is scheduled to be tested there the next morning. The north korean atomic buzz and the heat this summer inspired me to choose this one. A cultish favourite that is often listed for festivals of noir cinema, this work is less noirish than it is a clear example from the theatre of paranoia, as dick powells directorial debut melds nuclear explosion fears with a harrowing hostage taking by two escaped convicts fleeing from a nevada prison. Clocking in at 85 minutes split second is a fastpaced little gem. Split second 1953 the petrified forest meets atomic noir. It almost aspires to a horror movie, but there are no giant insects or martians.
The main plot is standard hardboiled crime movie fare. Split second 1953 is a crime, drama movie starring stephen mcnally and alexis smith. There have, apparently, been some points of contention, one of which involves the screenplay turning mcnallys character into too much of a philosopher and thus slowing things down. Dick powell, who previously was known as an actor and singer, made his directorial debut with split second. It features stephen mcnally, alexis smith, jan sterling, and keith andes. Music is by roy webb and cinematography by nicholas musuraca. It stars stephen mcnally, alexis smith, jan sterling, keith andes, arthur hunnicutt, richard egan, paul kelly, robert paige and frank dekova. Split second is very much a b movie, but one thats very well done thanks to a script that never lets up in its tension. Just one atom bomb ready to explode at dawn, marking.
Its a pretty standard hostage melodrama spiced up with a countdown to a nuclear test blast. As far as escaped convict movies go, 1953s split second starts out with a fairly novel concept. At the recent arthur lyons film noir festival in palm springs i saw 10 films, four of which i watched for the first time. Escaped convicts hold hostages in a ghost town targeted for a.
Written by kristina i hope split second hasnt been done before. Split second 1953 plot summary 2 two escaped killers take hostages and hide in a nevada mining ghost town knowing that an atom bomb is scheduled to be tested there the next morning. Escaped convicts hold hostages in a ghost town targeted for a nuclear bomb test. Sure, weve seen all these tropes a dozen times before, but the way theyre put together in split second is just so darn entertaining. Gallery of 10 movie poster and cover images for split second 1953. Stephen mcnally, alexis smith, jan sterling, keith andes, arthur hunnicutt, paul kelly, richard egan, robert paige, frank dekova. Two escaped killers take hostages and hide in a nevada mining ghost town knowing that an atom bomb is scheduled to be tested there the next morning. A few years ago i saw it the first time and ive been singing its praises ever since. Location shooting took place in and around mojave, ca, according to a late oct 1952 hr news item. The nineteen fifties was a time when both noir and nuclear paranoia were at their height, so its surprising that only a couple films of this era attempted to combine the two phenomena.
Split second is a film directed by dick powell with stephen mcnally, alexis smith, jan sterling, keith andes, year. Bad, bad killer sam hurley stephen mcnally and his two cronies, one of whom has a bullet in his belly, pick up multiple hostages and choose an abandoned town to hole up in until they can make a rendezvous in the morning. Mcnallys excellent performance as the kidnapper, in addition to strong supporting performances, enhance a solid plot. Stephen mcnally, alexis smith, jan sterling, keith andes, arthur hunnicutt, dick powell. This atomic age movie is one the 50s best thrillers youve probably never heard of. Split second is directed by dick powell and written by william bowers, irving wallace and chester erskine. Split second 1953 an escaped killer stephen mcnally holds a doctors wife alexis smith and others hostage at an atomicbomb test site in nevada. See what the critics had to say and watch the trailer. Stars stephen mcnally, alexis smith keith andes and jan sterling. The movie was filmed in eight weeks, between june 17 and august 9 of 1991, and was widely released in april 1992. All split second movie posters,high res movie posters image for split second. As an actor, powell knew his way around crime melodramas, and he brings his experience in that genre to second. Filmed in 1953, split second was former songanddance man dick powells directorial debut, and the movie demonstrates an assurance honed by several decades in hollywood.
His directing career which included the classic war movie the enemy below was cut short by his untimely death in 1963. Classiclady ive finally seen a hairstyle on alexis smith that makes her look like crap. Not as well known as it should be but a favorite of many who know it, split second is an incredibly tense film noircumatomic bomb flick that marked an auspicious directorial debut for singeractor dick powell. While not as good as these three films, it is as much fun as any of them. Also, character actress jan sterling is always a welcome sight. Although it was retitled again sometime during production from black tide to split second, the movie still had several different titles in other countries, like killer instinct in france and detective stone in italy. Split second was the directorial debut of dick powell and its a very solid first outing. Powells initial directorial effort is not likely to startle the cinema world but it is a long step in the right direction. Actor dick powell made an impressive film debut with the taut atomicage suspenser split second. The bomb blast is anticlimactic, in spite of the use of a wall clock with a 2nd hand. The violent killer has just busted out of jail but. The actors are good enough even if none of them became truly big stars, while then tension. Convicts stephen mcnally, paul kelly and frank dekova escape to a ghost town in the nevada desert.
Im not sure whether youd call split second 1953 a film noir or a disaster thriller. Read the full synopsis of split second, 1953, directed by dick powell, with stephen mcnally, alexis smith, jan sterling, at turner classic movies. Its not 100% noir, but i found the performances so good and it has some noir elements i thought id write about it. Wikimedia commons memiliki media mengenai split second film inggris split second di imdb inggris split second film 1953 di allmovie inggris split second film 1953 di tcm movie database inggris split second di american film institute catalog di youtube. Split second 1953 at the arthur lyons film noir festival. Unfortunately he followed this movie up with the camp fest the conqueror which would later cost him and about 90 other crew members their lives through cancer. Dick powell and many others died of cancer probably caused by nuclear testing andor waste during production of the conqueror. Split second 1953 was the new to me film i enjoyed the most. Split second 1953 cast and crew an escaped killer stephen mcnally holds a doctors wife alexis smith and others hostage at an atomicbomb test site in nevada. Split second is a movie that can be described as blade runner meets predator meets lethal weapon. On imdb tv, you can catch hollywood hits and popular tv series at no cost. Split second was the only feature produced at rko during the. Split second 1953 straddles the portal from 1940s film noir to 1950s paranoia genre, and we can see an era turning before our eyes. An escaped prisoner holds hostages in a nevada atomic bomb testing area.