Ten Seconds to Hell

This gripping bomb-disposal thriller foreshadows elements of Kathryn Bigelow’s "The Hurt Locker", but Aldrich was unhappy with the result because the finished film was cut by the producers. Shortly after World War II, six former German soldiers are hired by the British occupying forces to remove unexploded ordnance in Berlin. They agree to a wager: after three months, half of their pay is to be divided among the survivors. A struggle for dominance begins between the disillusioned idealist Fritz Koertner (Jack Palance) and the cynic Karl Wirtz (Jeff Chandler)—a confrontation between two worldviews. "Ten Seconds to Hell" is also a dark “rubble film” variation on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s classic "Le salaire de la peur": existential suspense in the interplay of high-tension scenes and psychological drama. (C.H.)