Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1966: Will Geer & Murray Hamilton in Seconds

Will Geer and Murray Hamilton did not receive Oscar nominations for portraying the Old Man and Charlie Evans respectively in Seconds.

I will first say spoilers, and recommend one just sees seconds which is a terrific underrated film. Another film that some how was derided upon release and so many times one can only wonder, what were the critics at the time thinking? One of the great aspects of the film is the ensemble cast filled with memorable character actors. One of the most memorable being Will Geer who typically played kindly down home types, and that appears to be what he might be playing here when the first appears in the film. This as he suddenly appears as our protagonist is going through the procedure to be "reborn" by a mysterious company, that takes aging men and gives them a new body and a new lease on life, supposedly. Geer's initial appearance is talking through the man about his current life. Geer is brilliant in this scene this as he presents himself just as a kindly old man. Upon initial view one might be foolish enough to take him as that. This as Geer speaks with a sweet sprightly way, an endearing smile, and eyes filled with interest for this man he speaks to...when the man is looking at him. You would be foolish enough to believe as Geer tells the man his life currently is basically meaningless, but he delivers it with the most sunny of dispositions. Geer does two things with this in one he makes it entirely convincing that the man would accept being "reborn" and losing his entire life for it, but also the more you pay attention the more quietly unnerving he is. This as he speaks with that wisdom of a country doctor, but basically he is pushing a pessimistic if not nihilistic view regarding the man's existence. I love though in that Geer wields that kindly presence as the Old man's tool to push the man to take his service as though it's a gift, when it may be anything but. This reflected though in the less the man looks at him, the more nefarious the old man's smiles seem, and the less any real warmth one may sense in him.

Murray Hamilton is a character actor I think we should all just take a second to admire a bit. This as you see him pop up in any classic film the man delivers. Whether that be his gambler in The Hustler, Death in his Twilight Zone episode, or his most remembered role as the morally questionable mayor in Jaws, among others. Hamilton is a proper character actor in that he delivers every time to the point one wonders what he could do with a more substantial role. Well this isn't that, his screentime is limited, but it does allow him to explore a bit more of his range. Now that screentime is limited to the point that for his early appearances are in voice only, as he repeatedly calls our protagonist trying to get him to take up the opportunity of being reborn. Hamilton's voice work is great however as he speaks with in part this sort of lurid salesman enthusiasm in part as he tries to convince the man. There is more though just in his voice, an underlying desperation about it as though he is harried to get him to accept the offer. What the desperation from is of course unsaid at first, but Hamilton's voice speaks a man within some constraint. This is only all the more evident later on when he tries to call to encourage the man a bit more, again Hamilton speaks in an evasive yet anxiety filled way. Hamilton speaking as trying to sell the man the idea while also obviously being under an inordinate amount of stress in the "sale". We actually see Hamilton, unknowing that he is the character of Charlie Evans who calls the man over the phone claiming to be his old friend, relatively early on in the film. This as the man stumbles into a room, in the offices of the rebirth company, where many men just seem to be sitting around. This including Hamilton who looks upon his old friend suggesting that he knows this man, though subtly as not to give himself away in those small glances of his.

Now the man's life being reborn isn't particularly successful which takes him back to the company, awaiting a "second" chance at rebirth. In this first he awaits this meeting in that room we earlier saw Charlie, and here we have what is Hamilton's highlighted scene of the film. It's Hamilton's one big scene, and to be sure he does not waste. This right from even the way he identifies his old friend in the moment as his expression is just brimming with this excitement as though he hasn't seen a familiar or friendly face in some time, or at least as familiar as it can get it in his strange circumstances. Hamilton instantly grants the sense of familiarity, and I love everything about his manner that grants the sense of an attempt to really create a sudden camaraderie with his old friend. Hamilton offers even this small moment a lot of depth, making more to Charlie than just being simply there. Hamilton though continues in this creating Charlie as entirely his own man with his own experience. This when asked how long he's been waiting for a second chance at being reborn, with his strained smile against his delivery of "awhile" paints a painful picture of a man seemingly in a hopeless endeavor. Hamilton is most moving though by presenting this sort innate optimism in his portrayal of Charlie, right to explaining why he sponsored his friend for this treatment. This explaining it with scattered unease how he hoped his friend might have had a better chance. When the man explains the waste, Hamilton's reaction says so much as his whole face is tight as though the man is trying to fix himself on some hopeful thought as though he's fighting of a painful depression the whole time. When suddenly Charlie is chosen for his "second chance" Hamilton is absolutely heartbreaking in the sheer jubilation he portrays. This not just happiness, but rather on the edge of a breakdown over the relief as though he has been waiting for it for an eternity. The combination of the bittersweet quality of Hamilton's work creating his own remarkable portrait of man hopelessly awaiting what he believes will be his personal redemption. It is brief work, but it is brilliant work, as Hamilton doesn't waste a second of his onscreen or even off-screen time to not only make the needed impact on the story, but also realize Charlie's story as well. Speaking of not wasting a second of screentime though we have the return of Geer as the Old Man at the end of the film. Initially Geer comes in again with that seeming sincerity as he states his hope the man could've made a go of his rebirth. When he continues to speak though Geer loses sort of the false sentiment and just starts speaking about the way his organization has been going. Geer is downright terrifying as he speaks of profit sharing as it relates to basically of disposing of men. Geer having such an ease in every word of man so comfortable with his truly horrible endeavor. This right as he basically is sentencing a man to death, and Geer inflicts this cold darkness as he speaks to moving his dream forward. I love what basically his final moment, where he reassures the man, just as he's about to be hauled off to be killed, with one more false smile that Geer brilliantly deflects as he loses it to just a cold dismissive glance as he orders his men to carry the man off to his death. Geer's performance crafting a man horrifying and unusual devil. This as a man who with so much ease tempts a man and with that same ease condemns. Both of these performances is fantastic, that take very limited roles in terms of their screentime, and making a lasting impression that makes Seconds all the more memorable of an experience.