Two Seconds (original) (raw)
In the last moments of his life, a criminal reviews the circumstances that led him to death row.
Film Details
Genre
Release Date
May 28, 1932
Premiere Information
New York premiere: 18 May 1932
Production Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.; The Vitaphone Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Two Seconds by Elliott Lester (New York, 9 Oct 1931).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
At the execution of John Allen, a convicted murderer, the warden speculates that during the two seconds after he is electrocuted, Allen will review his life: John is a riveter at a construction site during Prohibition, and lives with his best friend and co-worker Bud Clark. Bud is engaged to be married and tries to fix John up with a date. Uninterested, John goes to a dance hall, where he meets taxi dancer Shirley Day. He defends Shirley against an amorous patron, and her boss and lover, Tony, fires her as a result of his interference. Since John wants to be with an educated woman, Shirley feigns interest in attending a lecture with him, but instead persuades him to go to a nightclub and gets him drunk on "tea." Shirley then bribes a justice of the peace to marry them, and after returning to John's apartment, kicks Bud out. Three weeks later John and Bud discuss Shirley at work, and Bud tells John about all the lies Shirley has told him, suggesting that Shirley still spends her afternoons with Tony at the dance hall. John furiously lunges at Bud, who falls twenty stories to his death. Overcome by grief, John quits his job; however, living on Shirley's ill-gotten dance hall money demoralizes him. When Shirley tells him that she is helping Annie, Bud's innocent fiancée, to get a job at the dance hall, John becomes enraged. With money he wins at the racetracks, John pays Tony what he thinks he owes him, then shoots Shirley. At his trial, John refuses all defense, claiming that he should have been "burned" before, when he was at his lowest, not when he found personal justice. Finally, at the scene of the execution, the lever is pulled.
Crew
Videos
Film Details
Genre
Release Date
May 28, 1932
Premiere Information
New York premiere: 18 May 1932
Production Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.; The Vitaphone Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play Two Seconds by Elliott Lester (New York, 9 Oct 1931).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Articles
Often overlooked in the shadow of the ground-breaking gangster picture Little Caesar (1931), the 1932 film Two Seconds (which re-teamed actor Edward G. Robinson with director Mervyn LeRoy) is a rediscovered gem that exemplifies the saucy, hard-boiled entertainments that defined the Pre-Code era of the early 1930s.
Robinson stars as John Allen, a condemned criminal whose life unfolds in flashback at the moment of his electrocution. In happier times, he was a riveter on a New York skyscraper. When his roommate Bud (Preston Foster) fails to find his pal a suitable blind date, John is left alone, and wanders into a dime-a-dance joint where he meets a streetwise, world-weary taxi dancer named Shirley (Vivienne Osborne).
When a masher tries to get fresh with Shirley, John socks him in the eye and takes the now-jobless dancer to a soda fountain for some more wholesome refreshment. When Bud hears about John's adventures with Shirley, he smells a gold-digger and warns John to stay away from her. Despite Bud's warnings, John allows himself to get drunk and to be railroaded into marriage. Shirley's sudden appearance at John and Bud's bachelor pad creates a rift in their friendship. Tensions escalate and when an argument ensues on the construction site, Bud falls from a plank to his death. Bud's vertiginous plunge -- arms and legs akimbo, the buildings swirling around him, as an emergency horn howls -- is horrifying even by today's standards.
After the accident, John is too neurotic to return to work. To make ends meet, Shirley goes back to work for the dance hall proprietor (Carrol Naish), whose oily hair and pencil-thin moustache designate him a pimp. Emotionally impotent, John does little to stop her, until he learns that Shirley is tutoring Bud's ex-girlfriend in the ways of the world and is "going to make a tramp out of Annie." This emboldens John to purchase a gun, avenge Bud's death, and redeem his contaminated soul.
Once the homicidal revenge is carried out, John is sentenced to death and the circular narrative closes back on itself.
The plot of Two Seconds may not seem extraordinarily original, but it is distinguished by the style of its delivery. The gritty, urban tone of the film (characteristic of the Robinson and James Cagney vehicles at First National) is enhanced by the detailed depiction of the lowbrow entertainments that occupy the characters: the taxi dance hall, insipid radio broadcasts, the gambling bookie (the impish Guy Kibbee), a speakeasy that serves Prohibition liquor and calls it "tea," and the lost art of the "pick-up." Two Seconds is a fascinating time capsule for dramatizing the tawdry amusements that served as a balm for working-class Americans who were chafing at socio-economic hard times.
The film is further enlivened by its dynamic performances, most notably Robinson's. His descent into madness is brilliantly played, then crowned with a stunning monologue delivered at the judge's bench. John releases his demons and struggles with the tangled ideas of revenge, justice and punishment, and in the course of the four-minute scene, the viewer witnesses his descent into utter insanity. Few actors would dare attempt such a feat, and fewer still would be capable of pulling it off. The climactic monologue of Two Seconds stands as one of the high watermarks of Robinson's acting career.
Two Seconds was produced at a cost of 310,000andearnedanestimatedworldwidegrossof310,000 and earned an estimated worldwide gross of 310,000andearnedanestimatedworldwidegrossof822,000.
Two Seconds opened in New York at the Winter Garden on May 18, 1932. In his review in The New York Times, Mordaunt Hall wrote, "It is a production that is minus any comedy relief, being glum and gruesome, but adroitly done, a film that compels attention and one that is ably cast. Mervyn LeRoy, the director, has done his share in this graphic account of the last thoughts of a killer. His handling of the subject is imaginative and lifelike...In spite of its drab tale, it calls for admiration, for it never falters."
The original play was penned by Elliott Lester, and opened at Broadway's Ritz Theatre on October 9, 1931, with Edward Pawley and Blythe Daly in the central roles. The only actor to reprise his role in the film was Preston Foster, who played Bud in both versions, and who had a long career in Hollywood as a character actor. He appears as Pete in LeRoy's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), the holdup man who causes the central character to do his first stint in the Georgia work camp.
Two Seconds was not a high-profile project for First National (which later became Warner Bros.), but a "programmer," intended to keep the release roster full during lean financial times. "We were highly organized and we wanted to keep working," LeRoy recalled in 1970, "There was a kind of creative excitement then; lots of good players like Robinson, Bogart, Cagney, Joan Blondell... and I always worked closely with the writers."
During 1931-32, LeRoy directed an astounding thirteen feature films (about one every two months). More astounding still is the quality of these films, which include Little Caesar, the monumental I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (starring Paul Muni), the hardball newspaper drama Five Star Final (1931, starring Robinson), and the Pre-Code women's picture Three on a Match (1932, starring Blondell).
LeRoy was born in San Francisco on October 15, 1900, and worked as a teenage vaudeville entertainer before landing a job in silent pictures with the help of his cousin, Jesse Lasky (later one of the founders of Paramount). But nepotism didn't allow the kid a free ride. LeRoy's first film job was folding costumes for the 1919 picture Secret Service. Over the course of eight years, he proved himself capable of any number of jobs, including assistant cameraman, wardrobe assistant, color-tinter in the film lab, comedy writer, and bit player. His first opportunity as director was No Place to Go (1927), starring Mary Astor. After the run of good pictures he made during the Great Depression, LeRoy had a number of other notable achievements, often in the delicate role of producer/director: The FBI Story (1959), No Time for Sergeants (1958), and The Wizard of Oz (1939, which he partially directed, without credit). LeRoy died in 1987, about a month prior to his 87th birthday.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Screenplay: Harvey Thew; Elliott Lester (play)
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Art Direction: Anton Grot
Music: W. Franke Harling (uncredited)
Film Editing: Terry Morse
Cast: Edward G. Robinson (John Allen), Vivienne Osborne (Shirley Day), Guy Kibbee (Bookie), Preston Foster (Bud Clark), J. Carroll Naish (Tony), Frederick Burton (Judge), Harry Beresford (Doctor), Dorothea Wolbert (Lizzie - Cleaning Lady), Berton Churchill (The Warden).
BW-67m.
by Bret Wood
Two Seconds
Often overlooked in the shadow of the ground-breaking gangster picture Little Caesar (1931), the 1932 film Two Seconds (which re-teamed actor Edward G. Robinson with director Mervyn LeRoy) is a rediscovered gem that exemplifies the saucy, hard-boiled entertainments that defined the Pre-Code era of the early 1930s. Robinson stars as John Allen, a condemned criminal whose life unfolds in flashback at the moment of his electrocution. In happier times, he was a riveter on a New York skyscraper. When his roommate Bud (Preston Foster) fails to find his pal a suitable blind date, John is left alone, and wanders into a dime-a-dance joint where he meets a streetwise, world-weary taxi dancer named Shirley (Vivienne Osborne). When a masher tries to get fresh with Shirley, John socks him in the eye and takes the now-jobless dancer to a soda fountain for some more wholesome refreshment. When Bud hears about John's adventures with Shirley, he smells a gold-digger and warns John to stay away from her. Despite Bud's warnings, John allows himself to get drunk and to be railroaded into marriage. Shirley's sudden appearance at John and Bud's bachelor pad creates a rift in their friendship. Tensions escalate and when an argument ensues on the construction site, Bud falls from a plank to his death. Bud's vertiginous plunge -- arms and legs akimbo, the buildings swirling around him, as an emergency horn howls -- is horrifying even by today's standards. After the accident, John is too neurotic to return to work. To make ends meet, Shirley goes back to work for the dance hall proprietor (Carrol Naish), whose oily hair and pencil-thin moustache designate him a pimp. Emotionally impotent, John does little to stop her, until he learns that Shirley is tutoring Bud's ex-girlfriend in the ways of the world and is "going to make a tramp out of Annie." This emboldens John to purchase a gun, avenge Bud's death, and redeem his contaminated soul. Once the homicidal revenge is carried out, John is sentenced to death and the circular narrative closes back on itself. The plot of Two Seconds may not seem extraordinarily original, but it is distinguished by the style of its delivery. The gritty, urban tone of the film (characteristic of the Robinson and James Cagney vehicles at First National) is enhanced by the detailed depiction of the lowbrow entertainments that occupy the characters: the taxi dance hall, insipid radio broadcasts, the gambling bookie (the impish Guy Kibbee), a speakeasy that serves Prohibition liquor and calls it "tea," and the lost art of the "pick-up." Two Seconds is a fascinating time capsule for dramatizing the tawdry amusements that served as a balm for working-class Americans who were chafing at socio-economic hard times. The film is further enlivened by its dynamic performances, most notably Robinson's. His descent into madness is brilliantly played, then crowned with a stunning monologue delivered at the judge's bench. John releases his demons and struggles with the tangled ideas of revenge, justice and punishment, and in the course of the four-minute scene, the viewer witnesses his descent into utter insanity. Few actors would dare attempt such a feat, and fewer still would be capable of pulling it off. The climactic monologue of Two Seconds stands as one of the high watermarks of Robinson's acting career. Two Seconds was produced at a cost of 310,000andearnedanestimatedworldwidegrossof310,000 and earned an estimated worldwide gross of 310,000andearnedanestimatedworldwidegrossof822,000. Two Seconds opened in New York at the Winter Garden on May 18, 1932. In his review in The New York Times, Mordaunt Hall wrote, "It is a production that is minus any comedy relief, being glum and gruesome, but adroitly done, a film that compels attention and one that is ably cast. Mervyn LeRoy, the director, has done his share in this graphic account of the last thoughts of a killer. His handling of the subject is imaginative and lifelike...In spite of its drab tale, it calls for admiration, for it never falters." The original play was penned by Elliott Lester, and opened at Broadway's Ritz Theatre on October 9, 1931, with Edward Pawley and Blythe Daly in the central roles. The only actor to reprise his role in the film was Preston Foster, who played Bud in both versions, and who had a long career in Hollywood as a character actor. He appears as Pete in LeRoy's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), the holdup man who causes the central character to do his first stint in the Georgia work camp. Two Seconds was not a high-profile project for First National (which later became Warner Bros.), but a "programmer," intended to keep the release roster full during lean financial times. "We were highly organized and we wanted to keep working," LeRoy recalled in 1970, "There was a kind of creative excitement then; lots of good players like Robinson, Bogart, Cagney, Joan Blondell... and I always worked closely with the writers." During 1931-32, LeRoy directed an astounding thirteen feature films (about one every two months). More astounding still is the quality of these films, which include Little Caesar, the monumental I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (starring Paul Muni), the hardball newspaper drama Five Star Final (1931, starring Robinson), and the Pre-Code women's picture Three on a Match (1932, starring Blondell). LeRoy was born in San Francisco on October 15, 1900, and worked as a teenage vaudeville entertainer before landing a job in silent pictures with the help of his cousin, Jesse Lasky (later one of the founders of Paramount). But nepotism didn't allow the kid a free ride. LeRoy's first film job was folding costumes for the 1919 picture Secret Service. Over the course of eight years, he proved himself capable of any number of jobs, including assistant cameraman, wardrobe assistant, color-tinter in the film lab, comedy writer, and bit player. His first opportunity as director was No Place to Go (1927), starring Mary Astor. After the run of good pictures he made during the Great Depression, LeRoy had a number of other notable achievements, often in the delicate role of producer/director: The FBI Story (1959), No Time for Sergeants (1958), and The Wizard of Oz (1939, which he partially directed, without credit). LeRoy died in 1987, about a month prior to his 87th birthday. Director: Mervyn LeRoy Screenplay: Harvey Thew; Elliott Lester (play) Cinematography: Sol Polito Art Direction: Anton Grot Music: W. Franke Harling (uncredited) Film Editing: Terry Morse Cast: Edward G. Robinson (John Allen), Vivienne Osborne (Shirley Day), Guy Kibbee (Bookie), Preston Foster (Bud Clark), J. Carroll Naish (Tony), Frederick Burton (Judge), Harry Beresford (Doctor), Dorothea Wolbert (Lizzie - Cleaning Lady), Berton Churchill (The Warden). BW-67m. by Bret Wood
Quotes
Trivia
The premise behind this film was previously used in Last Moment, The (1928).
Notes
According to a contemporary article, Preston Foster was the only cast member from the stage production to appear in the film. Film Daily noted that Guy Kibbee replaced John Wray in the cast.