The Second Face

I love Ella Raines, and what I love especially are makeover movies - the ugly duckling turned into a swan, or even something like "Dark Passage" where a criminal has plastic surgery and turns into Humphrey Bogart.

"The Second Face," however, was a big disappointment. It's told in flashback - Phyllis Holmes (Raines) is in a car accident and hospitalized, her face covered in bandages -- apparently her face hit the windshield. We then learn what led to the accident.

Phyllis is a talented designer and a homely one. Ella's looks consisted of nose putty, hair pulled back tightly off her face, no makeup, and plain clothes. She works as an assistant to Paul Curtis (Bruce Bennett) who is in love with her, but after being hurt in a divorce, he won't admit it. He gets her a job elsewhere; ultimately she becomes design partners with a playboy (John Sutton). His rejection is painful for her. Things change after the accident and Phyllis undergoes plastic surgery, paid for by a mysterious benefactor.

Raines was a likable actress and in her younger days she resembled Gene Tierney; here, after her makeover, she does as well. For some reason she was usually relegated to B films, though several were very good noirs. She retired in 1956. AS an actress, she was a little limited -- scenes in this film where the character was overwrought weren't particularly well acted.

The cast is good, but the script is heavy-handed.

When the film begins, a young woman (Ella Raines) is upset...so upset she's driving like a maniac and ends up nearly getting killed in a traffic accident. She awakens in the hospital and she's a mess...and her face heavily bandaged. As she is lying there in bed, she thinks back to her recent life.

Phyllis (Raines) was working for a really nice boss but he was very afraid of getting closer to her because he'd already been badly hurt by his ex-wife. In fact, he's so afraid that he arranges for her to have a job far away. It seems she's gone to school for fashion design and her designs are terrific. But when she arrives at the new job, they dump her because she's very plain. So she then gets a job as a secretary to a real scum-bag and he uses her designs to make a name for herself and makes her feel LUCKY that he uses her work and pawns it off as his own. He manages to string her along for a while...but when she learns about what a nasty guy and other guys in her life are, she runs away and has the accident.

When she is ready to leave the hospital, Phyllis looks nothing like her old self thanks to plastic surgery. Now she finds it's easy to get work and men adore her...but she isn't happy. What's next? See the film.

The film has a nice idea and I appreciate it. However, the impact of the film is severely lessened for two big reasons. First, while they did have Raines made up to be quite plain, the change was NOT that significant. It was also funny that when they took the bandages off, she was well coiffed, had perfect eyebrows and lovely make-up!! Second, too often the characters in the film are too obvious...too obviously evil and one-dimensional. Jerry, in particular, was almost like Snidely Whiplash he was so transparent! Fortunately, while certainly schmaltzy, the film ended very well and I wish the entire film had been as well-crafted as the finale. Overall, an interesting film which should have been a lot better but is still well worth seeing.

I agree with at least one reviewer here, Ella Raines was the most beautiful and talented actress of the 40s and 50s. It seems criminal that by the early 50s she was appearing in Poverty Row films like The Second Face. The question is probably not what did she do that was wrong, but probably what did she not do that was wrong. In other words, given studio sexual harassment and whatnot in this period, she probably didn't go along. Which might explain why after such a luminous performance in films like Phantom Lady and Impact, her career took a nosedive and she turned to television. What a waste. Other actresses of this era, like Nancy Guild from Somewhere in the Night, had even shorter careers, perhaps for the same reasons.

The central problem with "The Second Face"--from which all other problems stem--is the script. I really can't see how any actor could speak the lines in this film and provide a subtle portrayal. The best scripts show the audience what is happening and reveal what the characters are thinking through action, as much as possible. "The Second Face", on the other hand, has the actors spelling out everything through dialogue.

The theme of the film is supposed to be about the transformation--from plain Jane to looker--of a young woman, via plastic surgery. This is a topic that was probably very interesting to the public but not well understood. The film was released in 1950 during a time that was seminal in the development of plastic surgery, partly due to WWII injuries. The Plastic Surgery Foundation had just been created and there were important advances in cleft lip and rhinoplasty techniques. Board certification integrated plastic surgery into the medical establishment. The Flammable Fabrics Act had been introduced at the urging of plastic surgeons. And breakthrough training in microvascular techniques was starting. No doubt the topic was in the news frequently.

But the film is ambushed by scene after scene that hit the viewer over the head with dialogue about how a homely woman can expect nothing out of life that she desires, certainly not romance. It dwells on people, especially men, being cruel to the main character, Phyllis (Ella Raines), tormenting her by spelling out how dismal her prospects are.

The print I watched (on TCM) also had a muddy soundtrack that was distracting.

The post-surgery transformation of Phyllis was interesting, using makeup and styling. But it is not enough to recommend this film.

A young woman who refuses to wear make up is treated like a Cyclops and denied employment and is insulted at every turn.

I realize the film is trying to make a point but it beats you over the head trying to make it.

It is kind of an unfunny version of The Girl Most Likely To written by Joan Rivers and made 23 years later.

If you watch this, watch for its camp value.