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Two Seconds is a 1932 American pre-Code crime drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson, Vivienne Osborne and Preston Foster. It was based on a successful Broadway play of the same name by Elliott Lester. The title refers to the two seconds it takes the condemned person to die in the electric chair after the executioner throws the switch. Preston Foster reprises the role he played on the Broadway stage.[2]

Two Seconds
1932 theatrical poster
Directed by	Mervyn LeRoy
Written by	Harvey Thew
Based on	Two Seconds 1931 play by Elliott Lester
Starring	Edward G. Robinson Vivienne Osborne Preston Foster
Cinematography	Sol Polito
Edited by	Terry Morse (aka Terry O. Morse)
Music by	W. Franke Harling
Production company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	May 28, 1932 (1932-05-28)
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$310,000
Box office	$822,000[1]

Plot

As John Allen, a condemned murderer, is led to the electric chair, a witness asks the prison warden how long it takes for the condemned person to die. "A strongly built man like John Allen? It'll take two seconds." As the executioner throws the switch, the events that led up to the execution appear in flashback.

John works with his friend and flatmate Bud Clark, as riveters, on the girders of a skyscraper under construction. Bud and John go out on the town, where John meets taxi dancer Shirley Day. When Shirley is assaulted by a customer, John defends her, punching the customer to the floor. Tony, the dance hall owner, tells them both to get out, firing Shirley. John then takes Shirley for a milk shake. On their next date, Shirley gets John drunk and bribes a Justice of the Peace to overlook his drunkenness and marry them.

Three weeks later, Bud and John are doing their high-rise riveting job, 28 stories up. During a break, they argue about Shirley. John angrily lunges at Bud with a wrench and Bud falls to his death.

John quits his job and falls into a depression. A kindly doctor is called and gives him a tonic. John says that it's his nerves. The doctor says that John's problem is psychological. Shirley begins seeing a man named Tony and John begins betting on horses, using a technique of multiple bets ("polys") used by Tony. John wins $388 and uses it to buy a gun, which he uses to kill Shirley for her infidelity.

At his trial, John states he should have been executed when he was at his lowest, not when he had paid off his debts. The judge informs John that he could have used a defence of insanity, but chose not to. The sentence is death.

Cast

• Edward G. Robinson as John Allen
• Vivienne Osborne as Shirley Day
• Guy Kibbee as Bookie
• Preston Foster as Bud Clark
• J. Carrol Naish as Tony
• Frederick Burton as Judge
• Harry Beresford as Doctor
• Dorothea Wolbert as Lizzie, Cleaning Lady
• Berton Churchill as The Warden
• William Janney as College Boy At Execution
• Edward McWade as The Prison Doctor
• Otto Hoffman as S J Peters, Justice of the Peace
• Adrienne Dore as Annie

Reception

Although he called it "a sordid and melancholy study" that was "glum and gruesome" and "minus any comedy relief", New York Times critic Mordaunt Hall also found a lot to like in Two Seconds. "Edward G. Robinson contributes a remarkably forceful portrayal," he wrote, adding that the film was "adroitly done [and] compels attention." He called LeRoy's direction "imaginative and lifelike" and praised the supporting cast: "Preston Foster plays Bud Clark, a rôle he also interpreted on the stage. His acting is capital. Vivienne Osborne is very real as the conscienceless Shirley. J. Carroll Naish makes the most of the part of Tony." In summary, he writes: "In spite of its drab tale, it calls forth admiration, for it never falters."[3]

Variety's 1932 review was less enamored: "General slowness and stodgy overdramatics won't draw the flaps, nor will a tragic finale help."[4] In later years, prolific critic Leslie Halliwell tersely called Two Seconds a "competent, pacy crime melodrama".[5]

References

External links

• Two Seconds at IMDb
• Two Seconds at AllMovie
• Two Seconds at the TCM Movie Database
• Two Seconds at the American Film Institute Catalog

На других языках

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- [en] Two Seconds

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[ru] Две секунды

«Две секунды» (англ.  Two Seconds) — американская криминальная драма режиссёра Мервина Лероя, которая вышла на экраны в 1932 году.

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