Split Second (1953)

Written by Kristina

I hope Split Second hasn't been done before. The North Korean atomic buzz and the heat this summer inspired me to choose this one. It's not 100% noir, but I found the performances so good and it has some noir elements I thought I'd write about it.

Stephen McNally and Paul Kelly are escaped cons who travel through the desert to their hideout, a ghost town situated in the middle of an atomic bomb testing site, set to detonate the next morning. As the cons travel to the ghost town, they pick up a variety of characters to hijack their cars and to keep them as hostages. The hostages: Jan Sterling is the tough talking dame who's been around, Keith Andes as the newspaper reporter, Alexis Smith as the self-centered wife in Nevada for a divorce, Robert Paige as her current squeeze, and Arthur Hunnicutt as a desert miner who adds a touch of humor to the film.

All these characters are held hostage by McNally and a wounded Kelly who has been shot during their escape. The clock is ticking and the excitement builds. McNally alternates between compassion for his friend and fellow convict, Kelly, and lack of conscience as he strong-arms the gals and kills one of the hostages. His loyalty to Kelly is reminiscent to a degree of James Cagney in White Heat and his relationship with his ma.

Kelly needs a doctor badly, so McNally has called Smith's husband, a doctor, to come to the hide-out or Alexis will die. McNally doesn't know that she is divorcing the husband, played by Richard Egan. So, it's a waiting game, will the doc arrive or won't he, will the hostages be murdered and will anyone get out before the bomb goes off?

You have to see this one for the ending. It rivals the force of Kiss Me Deadly in my opinion. Hope I didn't give it away.

Directed by Dick Powell and clocking in at 85 minutes. TCM shows it a couple times a year. Try to watch it if you haven't, it's a (pardon the pun) blast.