Some day we may have"frankenheimers" instead of nightmares; his films, particularly in thesixties (The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May and Seconds) takethe conspiracy thriller to new realms of paranoiac possibility, and, ifabsurd, are always based on some current preoccupation. Seconds spiralsoff in a macabre way from the obsession with youth and regeneration inmiddle-class society; it is a Dorian Gray tale transposed to a cold,dehumanized world. Arthur Hamilton is a middle-aged businessman whoselife has wound down to a monotonous round interrupted only by theoccasional spark of indigestion. With nothing to lose, he accepts theoffer by an underground organization to officially "kill" him and thusallow him a chance for a new, or second life. After an ordeal involvingbrainwashing and plastic surgery, Arthur emerges as one Antiochus Wilsonwith the face and body of none other than Rock Hudson. The oldconsciousness resurfaces when least welcome and conflicts rage withinhim, but there is no turning back; Antiochus/Arthur has become yetanother type of organization man. Rock Hudson seems to perfectlyencapsulate the agony of the remodeled man with a human soul longing toemerge, and James Wong Howe's cinematography makes use of the fish-eyelens to make strange even the most normal locations-a dry cleaners, ameat market, a train station-where absurdity lurks.