mcmason-72160 Review of Two Seconds

Two Seconds (1932)

Robinson is impressive against type despite the whiff of misogyny in the script

[7/10 · 17 December 2017]

I agree with most of the other reviewers that Edward G. Robinson gives a good performance as a young working stiff who is bamboozled by a woman out for money. Although Robinson's acting is very naturalistic and believable throughout most of the movie, he becomes very melodramatic and somewhat overwrought at the end. Still, it shows that Robinson had a much larger range of acting than he was ever allowed in later years when he was forced mostly to play gangsters. The problem with the movie is in its attitudes about women. On the one hand, it is very realistic in presenting the demeaning life that women experienced during the beginning of the Great Depression in trying to make a living. The dance hall scene is a sociological treasure trove of what it was like to be a single woman in Depression era America. But eventually it turns into a screed against women as gold diggers that have been a misogynist staple for Hollywood since the beginning. Having said that, it is still a fascinating drama from pre-code Hollywood. This was a time when movies were allowed to take on serious social topics and represent sexual relationships between men and women in a realistic light. When you see movies like this you realize how damaging the code was to artistic expression in American movies. If only it had been allowed to evolve on its own without censorship, who knows where is could produced.