La deuxième femme

Robert Young is one seemingly unlucky guy in "The Second Woman," a 1950 film also starring Betsy Drake, Morris Carnovsky, John Sutton, Florence Bates and Henry O'Neill. This was probably a 'B' noir; like "Shining Victory" and "The Uninvited," it is reminiscent of "Rebecca" - in fact, the beginning narration is basically a paraphrase of "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderlay." This film even goes so far as to have Florence Bates playing Drake's aunt; she was Mrs. DeWinter's employer in "Rebecca." Drake is Ellen Foster, a young woman en route by train to visit her aunt when she meets her aunt's attractive neighbor, Jeff Cohalon (Young). He's built a fantastic house that, her aunt informs Ellen, no one has ever been in. He built it for his bride-to-be, and she was killed in a car accident before the wedding. Since then, several people - his almost father-in-law, Ben (O'Neill), to whom Jeff is like a son, and a psychiatrist, Dr. Hartley (Carnovsky) have been concerned about Jeff. He seems absent-minded and moody. Then strange things begin to happen to Jeff - he has to shoot his horse when it breaks its leg apparently while in its stall; his dog dies; the color on a painting he owns suddenly fades; and roses he brings into the house die immediately. Ellen, who works with actuarial tables, is darn suspicious - there is too much bad luck, and either Jeff himself or someone who wants him destroyed is behind it.

"The Second Woman" is a decent film with good, if unexciting, acting. Robert Young made several noirs in the '40s, and he did them well - you really don't know here if he's sinister or if he's a victim. Drake is a bland costar. Carnovsky, O'Neill, Sutton and Bates give good support. Sutton strikes the right note as a man who hates Jeff.

Like dozens and dozens of post-World War II, there is an emphasis on psychology. Considering what our soldiers went through in World War II, it's not surprising that it was a hot topic. Here the big word is paranoia. But as anyone will tell you, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone's not out to get you.

What this b&w noir has going for it is the scenic grandeur of the central California coastline. The roiling sea and rocky outcrops, along with the ultra-modern (circa 1950) cliff house, provide an unusual backdrop to this psychological drama. Bad things keep happening to architect Jeff (Young) for no apparent reason, starting with the highway death of his wife. Enter Ellen (Drake) who seeks to uncover the mystery, though the finger of guilt begins to point at a grieving Jeff who may now be unhinged.

Both the script and the staging are excellent until the climax, which should have been reconsidered from both ends, especially the ludicrous gunshot that seemingly takes minutes to register. Drake's an appealing actress and projects intelligence in the part. At the same time, she's unusual for a decade that emphasized buxom sex-goddesses, which she definitely is not. She and Young do make a well-matched screen couple. However, Young's performance is rather strange. I don't know if he was reaching for a particular effect, but his low-key demeanor never changes despite the many provocations. Unfortunately, it borders on both the boring and the implausible.

Nonetheless, it's an intriguing mystery and a real treat for the eye thanks to cinematographer Hal Mohr. Also, I can't help noticing that Harry Popkin produced this film, along with the noir classic DOA (1950) and such imaginative B-movies as The Well (1951) and The Thief (1952). I expect it was he who insisted on the scenic locations for this film, proving that noir need not be confined to gritty urban settings. Anyway, I think it's fair to surmise that Popkin was a producer, unlike many, who understood the artistic side of movie-making. It shows here.

The Second Woman is a stylish mystery thriller staring second tier leads Robert Young and Betsy Drake and directed by second tier director James V. Kern. But there is nothing second rate about the finished product. This movie is visually and dramatically stimulating from beginning to end.

Young plays an architect brooding over the death of his fiancé in an auto crash in which he was the driver the previous year. After a series of apparent accidents, including a suspicious injury to his horse and a fire at his house, it appears that either someone is out to get him, or he is actually doing destructive things to himself because he is a dangerously off-his-nut paranoiac. The local doctor (Morris Carnovsky) believes the latter. His newly acquired girl friend (Drake), who works in statistical studies for an insurance company, turns detective to prove it is the former. The mystery unfolds at a leisurely pace at first but gradually builds tension with surprising twists and turns of the plot. As with any good thriller, you begin to suspect everyone. A brooding, almost Gothic mood is maintained by Joseph Nussbaum's haunting Tchaikovsky-based score and Hal Mohr's alternately dark and luminous black and white cinematography. Frequent shots of the surf crashing on the lonely rocks of the Central California shore help set the forlorn ambiance. Kern's direction is precise, dialog is intelligent, editing smooth. Young and Drake are charming, and they get expert support from Carnovsky, Henry O'Neil, Florence Bates, and John Sutton.

The Second Woman successfully blends elements of mystery, noir, Gothic, and romantic melodrama. Though released in July 1950, its sensuous style and feel seem to belong more to the l940's than to the 'fifties. But when decades are accounted properly, the year 1950 is actually the last year of the decade we nickname "the forties". In any case it was made near the end of an era. Due to collapse of the studio systems, death and retirement of key personnel, adverse changes in public taste, and other factors, by the end of the 1950's they would no longer be able to make pictures as classy and entertaining as The Second Woman.

Top entertainment from Hollywood's Golden Era.

A better-than-average psychological thriller, The Second Woman blends aspects of Rebecca and Gaslight into a savvy, neo-Gothic style (there's even an ultramodern, Manderley-like pile of memories high above the crashing ocean; it, too, ends in conflagration).

Robert Young plays a young architect who can't wriggle out from under a jinx. The night before their wedding, a car crash claimed the life of his fiancée, for whom he'd built the cantilevered "house with wings." Now it's a mausoleum where he broods to the Tchaikovsky on the sound track. Lapses of memory and moody episodes undermine his work. His horse, his dog, even his prize rosebush die mysteriously. He's sinking, an object of pity and, increasingly, apprehension.

Into this slough of despond comes a guardian angel (Betsy Drake), an intelligent and independent insurance investigator who falls for him, as he for her. (She's something of an anomaly in film noir, where all the brains and spunk usually go to the wicked women.) She supplies Young with the resolve to solve the puzzle when he ceases to care.

There are weak points as well. The suicide attempt that opens the movie makes scant sense when it's later explained; the character set up as a villain emerges, at least partly, as a red herring; and the formidable Florence Bates disappears into a bland "also-starring" role. And constantly referring to past events in a low-key, almost abstract way lays poor preparation for the ending, where they prove central. Still, The Second Woman keeps you puzzled, and the Gothic trappings work their spell. Less film noir than mystery, it's nonetheless a good, old-fashioned one.

Intriguing psychological thriller which reflects the forties zeitgeist when psychonanalysis was the craze (see "spellbound" " the dark mirror" "secret beyond the door"...)Because he feels responsible for the death of his fiancée in a car crash ,Jeff is brooding .And he's a victim of strange incidents (he has to shoot his horse whose front leg is broken, his dog is poisoned ) ;"it cannot be a coincidence " says Helen (who plays the role of Ingrid Bergman in "spellbound" although she's not a shrink ) .When the unfortunate man's house is burnt , all coincidence must be ruled out:

Is it a self-inflicted retribution ("he wants to be punished for what he's done) ,as the friendly doctor says , warning Helen and her aunt who accomodates him after the fire against a man who may become dangerous :he destroys everything he likes , and he loves you!

Or is there a criminal mind behind these strange events : hence a whodunit side: is it Ben,the late fiancée's father who treats Jeff like his own son?Keith the philanderer? Or the doctor himself ?

The screenplay sustains suspense throughout and the ending makes sense ; Robert Young as a brooding wistful man down on his luck and Betsy Drake, as headstrong energetic Helen come up to scratch.