The Art-House Flop that was Turned into an Action Hit
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now)
Director John Frankenheimer was coasting on his reputation when he came to make Seconds, perhaps his most ambitious film to that date (1966). For this science-fiction stunner acclaimed thespian Laurence Olivier was initially sought for the lead role. The great Olivier was intrigued by the role and the film’s premise and wanted to do it. However, the studio backers in Hollywood didn’t feel that Olivier was a big-enough drawcard – they went instead with an actor they felt would bring in more people: Rock Hudson. Hudson was a bit reluctant unless there was a script change that made the role less demanding but approached the film with gusto, turning in one of his best performances. Strings were pulled and the movie was entered in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival where it was greeted by vociferous objection and on general cinema release flopped disastrously. Some thirty years later, the action movie script for the eventual John Travolta / Nicolas Cage movie Face/Off was turned down at script stage by four major studios before Paramount accepted it. It was there that it attracted Hong Kong director John Woo who was struck by the film’s twist on motifs found in a sci-fi film that had long fascinated Woo – Seconds.
Wider Screenings DVD Attraction: John Frankenheimer on Rock Hudson in Seconds
(courtesy of YouTube embedded video)