The Second Face

Extremely Low Budget Movie that is somewhat Off-Beat as it Tries to paint a Picture of a Flaw in the Human Condition. The Unhealthy and Harmful Emphasis on"Surface Beauty" with a lack of Regard for "Inner Beauty". A Heavy load to take on in a Poverty Row Picture.

Heavy Handed to be sure, on the Surface its most Glaring Ineptitude is the Script that Sledgehammers Home the most Obvious Conceits again and again. Ella Raines does Her Best with what amounts to a Dual Role.

Plain and a bit Homely, Her Talented Fashion Designer is Denied Access to the Male Dominated Business World because She is Not a "Looker".

The Final Act is Rushed, even more Heavy Handed, and it Drags to a Hollywood Conclusion of Optimism that was the Beginning of the Death March for Film-Noir. Overall, Not Bad for a Cheaply made "Quickie". Bruce Bennett is Miscast as a sort of Background White Knight.

Worth a Watch but Overwritten and Overwrought so much that the Message becomes Laborious and the Short Movie seems a Lot Longer than it is.

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.

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.

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.

The plight of plain women in a beauty-centered culture has powerful potential— for example, The Enchanted Cottage (1945), The Heiress (1949). I just wish the screenplay here were a stronger one. As another reviewer points out, the script is basically a one-note narrative. On the downswing, it's just one rejection after another for the plain Phyllis (Raines), while on the upswing, with a new face, it's just the opposite. Too bad the point is belabored without much subtlety, as though otherwise the audience won't get the point. Speaking of subtlety, the first 10-minutes does manage a nice bit of subtlety as Paul (Bennett) eases Phyllis out of his employ so that her romantic hopes won't be dashed. Too bad the remainder becomes so tediously obvious. (One wise script point—putting poor Phyllis in the fashion industry where beauty is a commodity and the main topic. That way it's not average folks rejecting her.)

Now I like Ella Raines as well as the next fan. However, the role calls for a performer who specializes in soul (e.g. Ida Lupino, Olivia deHaviland, Sylvia Sydney). Raines does a good job of smiling through adversity, but projects little beyond what's in the script. Inner depth would have added a lot. Clearly, the casting calls for a beautiful woman, which Raines is, so that the transformation can be convincing. But, all in all, the actress is more persuasive as a vamp than a rejected plain-Jane. Then too, Bennett appears miscast. He's just too hunky for a recessive role. Maybe the producers figured the ending could only be justified by using a hunky guy to balance out the re-born Phyllis.

Anyway, the sensitive topic is an important one, and one that old Hollywood usually shied away from. I'm just sorry it didn't get more memorable treatment here, with a bigger budget, a better script, and more astute casting.