Ten Seconds to Hell

Ten Seconds To Hell (released in the UK as The Phoenix) is a 1959 British and West German film directed by Robert Aldrich, based on Lawrence P. Bachmann's novel The Phoenix. The Hammer Films/UFA joint production stars Jack Palance, Jeff Chandler and Martine Carol.

Set in the aftermath of World War II, the film focuses on a half-dozen Germans who return to a devastated Berlin and find employment as a bomb disposal squad, tasked with clearing the city of unexploded Allied bombs. They form a tontine, into which they pool half of their salaries which those still alive at the end of three months will divide. Eventually, only two men are left.

Robert Aldrich's direction is noted for its meticulous attention to the techniques of bomb deactivation and disposal. Hammer bought the rights to the novel in 1955, but took some time before preproduction began in Berlin on Jan. 7, 1958. It was originally slated to star Gregory Peck and Stanley Baker, but was recast later with Jack Palance and Peter Van Eyck (who was later replaced by Jeff Chandler). Filming started Feb. 24, 1958. The film originally ran 131 minutes, but United Artists edited it down to 93 minutes before its release. It was released on June 15, 1958 and in spite of James Carreras' predictions, the film did rather poorly at the box office.