iMovie HD splitting imported video into .1 sec clips

I am importing a 45 minute video from my Sony Digital 8 Handycam into iMovie. After the video has been imported, it shows us as a series of .1 sec clips -- so many that iMovie hangs in spinning beach ball mode.

I have done this successfully for several years and have never had this problem. I am filming a kids' summer theater production. Actually, I had a similar problem last year, but it only affected part of the video; this year it appears to be the whole tape.

An earlier discussion (archived 2008) suggested that it could be the internal battery on the camera affecting the time stamp on the video. The camera did have to have the clock reset before I used it this year -- I probably hadn't used the camera since last year. The clock has kept the correct time since the filming, but I don't know if that means anything.

I was the 'official' videographer for the show, and would like to get this worked out, so I can get to editing the tape.

Any suggestions out there?

I am using iMovie 11 Version 9.0.9