Two Seconds

John Allen is led toward the electric chair as a witness asks how long death takes. The warden answers that it will take two seconds, casting a grim prophecy over the scene. When the switch is flipped, the film shifts into flashback, revealing the life that led to this moment.

John and Bud Clark work as riveters on the girders of a skyscraper, earning $62.50 a week. Bud is engaged to be married and tries to fix up John's night out, often pairing him with women Bud calls firewagons. Their friendship is tested by money, work, and plans for the future.

Bud wins money on horses and hopes to set up a night out for John. In a taxi dance hall, John meets dancer Shirley Day and is drawn to her, though she disappears with another customer while he buys tickets. A disruptive encounter with a groping patron leads John to intervene as the manager ejects them.

Shirley pretends to be educated and lures John to a speakeasy, where he gets drunk on bootleg gin. She drags him toward a rushed marriage ceremony, hoping to cement a life together. The night ends with John staggering through a faux ceremony under the influence.

After the intoxicated ceremony, John and Shirley return to his apartment. Shirley flaunts a ring and declares they are married, while John remains stunned. Bud arrives and a blazing argument erupts, with Shirley asserting control and Bud challenging the situation.

John and Bud work a 28-story rivet job, and the mood turns sour as they argue about Shirley. Bud accuses John of falling for a liar, while John defends Shirley and resents the insinuations about her character. The feud foreshadows a tragic outcome.

During a break, the argument escalates and Bud lashes out at John's loyalty to Shirley. John lunges at Bud with a spanner, and Bud tumbles to his death, spinning as he falls while John stares in horror and calls out his friend's name.

John becomes a nervous wreck, with Shirley's nagging eroding his will. He admits he can't climb due to fear, and a kindly doctor explains that his problem is psychological rather than physical. The diagnosis deepens John's sense of guilt and helplessness.

Shirley dresses in new clothes and asserts her 'credibility' as a wife. She explains money flows from Tony and bribes for attention, while she schemes to get Annie—a former girlfriend of Bud—work at the dance hall. John grows increasingly uneasy about Shirley's control over funds and choices.

John bets on horses using polys via Tony's bookie and wins $388, a sum he sees as a path to clear all debts. He mutters about reclaiming control, smashes a teacup that once held bootleg liquor (and later his friend's blood-stained memory), and resolves to be free from Shirley's influence.

John storms Tony's dance hall and finds Shirley in Tony's arms. He gives Tony $162, denounces Shirley as rotten, and, in a fit of rage, shoots Shirley multiple times as Tony escapes in panic. The act marks a turning point as John literally destroys the life he destroyed before.

On trial, John laments that he should have been burned when at his lowest and calls himself a rat. He expresses a sense of injustice and despair, pleading that the world not reward a man for what he has endured. The courtroom becomes a stage for his broken psyche.

The judge notes that insanity might have been a defense but was not used, and John is sentenced to death. The verdict closes the long arc from promise to ruin, underscoring the tragedy of a man worn down by abuse and violence.

The narrative returns to the opening frame as the electric chair is used to execute John. The two-second death completes the circle, ending the life that the film spent unraveling through flashbacks.