Split Second *** (1953, Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, Arthur Hunnicutt) – Classic Movie Review 11,970

Split Second (1953, Alexis Smith).

Director Dick Powell’s tense and taut 1953 RKO Pictures American film noir thriller film Split Second stars Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes, and Arthur Hunnicutt.

Escaped armoured car robber convicts Sam Hurley (Stephen McNally) and Bart Moore (Paul Kelly) plus a mute named ‘Dummy’ (Frank de Kova) hold a mixed bag of characters hostage in an American ghost town that happens to be the site of the US army’s atomic testing range.

The victims include reporter Larry Fleming (Keith Andes), unfaithful wife Kay Garven (Alexis Smith), sourpuss old-timer local resident Asa Tremaine (Arthur Hunnicutt), dancer Dottie Vail (Jan Sterling), Kay’s lover Arthur Ashton (Robert Paige) and Kay’s doctor husband Neal (Richard Egan).

There is a perfunctory plot, but the film is packed with incident, suspense and strong character acting, all deftly handled by début director Powell.

Stephen McNally in Split Second.

The screenplay by William Bowers and Irving Wallace is based on a story by Chester Erskine and Irving Wallace.

Location shooting took place in the Mojave Desert in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the US Southwest.

Dick Powell films as director: Split Second (1953), The Conqueror (1956), You Can’t Run Away from It (1956), The Enemy Below (1957), and The Hunters (1958). Also actress Jean Porter said the 1951 film Cry Danger was ‘directed by Dick Powell, and he wasn’t given director credit. Dick gave Robert Parrish the director’s credit, but Dick did all the directing.’

The cast are Stephen McNally as Sam Hurley, Alexis Smith as Kay Garven, Jan Sterling as Dottie Vail, Keith Andes as Larry Fleming, Arthur Hunnicutt as Asa Tremaine, Paul Kelly as Bart Moore, Robert Paige as Arthur Ashton, Richard Egan as Dr Neal Garven, and Frank de Kova as Dummy.

Split Second is directed by Dick Powell, runs 85 minutes, is made and released by RKO Pictures, is written by Irving Wallace, based on a story by Irving Wallace and Chester Erskine, is shot by Nicholas Musuraca, is produced by Edmund Grainger, and is scored by Roy Webb.

Release date: May 2, 1953 (US).

RKO Pictures was in turmoil. A consortium took over the studio in late 1952 and produced this, their sole film, before the previous owner Howard Hughes took back control.

In June 1952 it was announced that Victor Mature and Jane Russell were to star.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,970

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com