Two Seconds
Encyclopedia
Two Seconds is a 1932 Pre-Code film directed by Mervyn LeRoy
and starring Edward G. Robinson
with 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.
.
Allen worked with his friend and flatmate Bud Clark as a riveter high on the girders of a skyscraper under construction. Bud is engaged to be married, and tries to set up a date for Allen, but Allen is uninterested. He goes to a dance hall, where he meets dancer Shirley Day. He defends her from an amorous patron, and she is fired by Tony, the proprietor who is also her lover. Allen wants to be with an educated woman, and Shirley pretends to be interested in attending a lecture with him. Instead, she persuades him to go to a speakeasy and she gets him drunk on "tea". She bribes a justice of the peace to marry them; Allen is too drunk to realize what is happening.
When they return to Allen's apartment, Shirley throws Bud out. Almost immediately, Shirley begins seeing Tony. When, three weeks after the marriage, Bud tells Allen that Shirley is unfaithful they fight, and Bud falls to his death from a skyscraper girder. The grief-stricken Allen then quits his job, but is demoralized by living on Shirley's ill-gotten money.
Later Shirley pretends to repent and tells Allen that she has been meeting with Tony to borrow money to help Bud's fiancee Annie get a job at the dance hall. Allen begins betting on horses in order to pay off the debts Shirley owes Tony. One of his bets pays off $362 and Allen heads to Tony's house with the money, only to find Shirley in Tony's arms. He realizes that Bud had been telling the truth, and Shirley had been lying to him. Jealous, he kills Shirley and is sentenced to the electric chair.
At his trial Allen refuses all defenses saying he should have been killed when he was at his lowest, not when he had been avenged. As the switch is pulled, Allen reflects on how he got away with Bud Clark's accidental death, but was condemned for Shirley's murder.
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."
Variety's
1932 review was less enamored: "General slowness and stodgy overdramatics won't draw the flaps, nor will a tragic finale help."
In later years, prolific critic Leslie Halliwell
tersely called Two Seconds a "competent, pacy crime melodrama."
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
and starring Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
with Vivienne Osborne
Vivienne Osborne
Vivienne Osborne was an American stage and film actress known for her work in Broadway theater and in silent and sound films.-Career:...
and Preston Foster
Preston Foster
Preston Foster was an American stage and film actor, and singer. Foster entered films in 1929 after appearing as a Broadway stage actor. He was appearing in Broadway plays as late as October 1931 when he acted in a play titled Two Seconds starring Edward J. Pawley...
. 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.
Plot
As John Allen, a condemned murderer, is led to the electric chair, a witness asks a guard how long it takes for the condemned person to die. "Two seconds," the guard answers, "the longest two seconds of his life." As the executioner throws the switch, the events that led up to the execution appear in flashbackFlashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
.
Allen worked with his friend and flatmate Bud Clark as a riveter high on the girders of a skyscraper under construction. Bud is engaged to be married, and tries to set up a date for Allen, but Allen is uninterested. He goes to a dance hall, where he meets dancer Shirley Day. He defends her from an amorous patron, and she is fired by Tony, the proprietor who is also her lover. Allen wants to be with an educated woman, and Shirley pretends to be interested in attending a lecture with him. Instead, she persuades him to go to a speakeasy and she gets him drunk on "tea". She bribes a justice of the peace to marry them; Allen is too drunk to realize what is happening.
When they return to Allen's apartment, Shirley throws Bud out. Almost immediately, Shirley begins seeing Tony. When, three weeks after the marriage, Bud tells Allen that Shirley is unfaithful they fight, and Bud falls to his death from a skyscraper girder. The grief-stricken Allen then quits his job, but is demoralized by living on Shirley's ill-gotten money.
Later Shirley pretends to repent and tells Allen that she has been meeting with Tony to borrow money to help Bud's fiancee Annie get a job at the dance hall. Allen begins betting on horses in order to pay off the debts Shirley owes Tony. One of his bets pays off $362 and Allen heads to Tony's house with the money, only to find Shirley in Tony's arms. He realizes that Bud had been telling the truth, and Shirley had been lying to him. Jealous, he kills Shirley and is sentenced to the electric chair.
At his trial Allen refuses all defenses saying he should have been killed when he was at his lowest, not when he had been avenged. As the switch is pulled, Allen reflects on how he got away with Bud Clark's accidental death, but was condemned for Shirley's murder.
Cast (in credits order)
- Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonEdward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
as John Allen - Vivienne OsborneVivienne OsborneVivienne Osborne was an American stage and film actress known for her work in Broadway theater and in silent and sound films.-Career:...
as Shirley Day - Guy KibbeeGuy KibbeeGuy Bridges Kibbee was an American stage and film actor.Born in El Paso, Texas, Kibbee began his entertainment career on Mississippi riverboats and eventually became a successful Broadway actor...
as Bookie - Preston FosterPreston FosterPreston Foster was an American stage and film actor, and singer. Foster entered films in 1929 after appearing as a Broadway stage actor. He was appearing in Broadway plays as late as October 1931 when he acted in a play titled Two Seconds starring Edward J. Pawley...
as Bud Clark - J. Carrol NaishJ. Carrol NaishJoseph Patrick Carrol Naish was an American character actor born in New York City. Naish was twice nominated for an Academy Award for film roles, and he later found fame in the title role of CBS Radio's Life With Luigi , which was also on CBS Television .Naish appeared on stage for several years...
as Tony - Frederick BurtonFrederick Burton (actor)Frederick Burton , was an American actor. He appeared in 122 films between 1914 and 1947.He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles...
as Judge - Harry BeresfordHarry BeresfordHarry Beresford was a stage actor in London and New York before going on the screen. He was also a screen writer and novelist.He was married to actress Kitty Gordon and their child was actress Vera Beresford....
as Doctor - Dorothea WolbertDorothea WolbertDorothea Wolbert was an American film actress. She appeared in 147 films between 1916 and 1957. She appeared on the television series "I Love Lucy" in episode #137- Ricky's European Booking .She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*...
as Lizzie, Cleaning Lady - Berton ChurchillBerton ChurchillBerton Churchill was a Canadian actor.Born in Toronto, Ontario. As a young man interested in the theater, he appeared in stock companies as early as 1903 and later headed to New York City where he began an acting career that soon put him on the Broadway stage...
as The Warden - William Janney as College Boy At Execution
- Edward McWadeEdward McWadeEdward McWade was an American film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in 132 films between 1919 and 1944. He also wrote for 15 films between 1897 and 1914.He was born in Washington, D.C...
as The Prison Doctor - Gladys Lloyd as Woman
Critical reception
Although he called it a "a sordid and melancholy study" that was "glum and gruesome" and "minus any comedy relief", New York Times critic Mordaunt HallMordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for The New York Times, from October 1924 to September 1934....
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."
Variety's
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
1932 review was less enamored: "General slowness and stodgy overdramatics won't draw the flaps, nor will a tragic finale help."
In later years, prolific critic Leslie Halliwell
Leslie Halliwell
Robert James Leslie Halliwell was a British film encyclopaedist and television impresario who in 1965 compiled The Filmgoer's Companion, the first one-volume encyclopaedia devoted to all aspects of the cinema. He followed it a dozen years later with Halliwell's Film Guide, another monumental work...
tersely called Two Seconds a "competent, pacy crime melodrama."