Split Second is a 1953 American film noir thriller directed by Dick Powell about escaped convicts and their hostages holed up in a ghost town, unaware of the grave danger they are in.

[3] It was the only film put into production by the consortium that took over RKO Pictures in late 1952 before previous owner Howard Hughes resumed control of the company.

They are picked up by an accomplice, Dummy, waiting for them on a deserted section of road, who drives them to a gas station where Hurley intends to steal a better car.

Along the way, they pick up several hostages, first the wealthy Kay Garven and her lover, insurance man Arthur Ashton, then, when Kay's large luxury sedan runs out of gas she is forced to flag down newspaper reporter Larry Fleming and out-of-work dancer Dorothy "Dottie" Vail in Larry's well-used vintage woody station wagon.

Sam initially drives the wrong way, toward the bomb, and the threesome, and Dummy, are killed by the explosion, which incinerates the ghost town, but the others emerge unharmed.

He wrote, "In making his directorial debut with Split Second, Dick Powell fortunately acquired a small but enthusiastic and competent cast, a fairly sturdy script and a contemporary peg on which to hang his melodrama ...

Split Second is a fairly taut adventure closely tied to the atomic age but it is rarely explosive ... Mr. Powell's initial directorial effort is not likely to startle the cinema world but it is a long step in the right direction.