La seconda moglie

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.

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.

It's opening speech tries far too hard to evoke associations with 'Rebecca' (it even features one of the original cast), and it also shoehorns in references to 'Suspicion' and 'Spellbound'. But it actually works perfectly own on it's own terms - with a bit of postwar psychology thrown in and Tchaikovsky on the soundtrack - and ironically harks forward towards later Hitchcocks (notably 'North by Northwest') with it's hero and heroine meeting cute on a train and the hilltop Frank Lloyd Wright-style house that serves as a backdrop to some of the drama.

A chicly attired Betsy Drake - ironically Mrs Cary Grant at the time - provides an attractive and robust female lead.

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.

This interesting psychological drama has a number of strengths that more than make up for the low-budget look and a few minor flaws. The story is full of tension and dramatic possibilities, and things are built up nicely, with the flashback opening and a number of the plot elements frequently reminding you of "Rebecca". It's not really on a par with that story, or with the Hitchcock film version, but it has the same kind of psychology-driven story that takes some skill to tell.

Robert Young plays a talented architect whose life and mental stability have been troubled by a recent tragedy. Young is well cast, since in his earlier years he came across well as this kind of character, who is likable but whose behavior raises a lot of questions. Betsy Drake was an interesting choice for the female lead, emphasizing sincerity, intelligence, and loyalty rather than the glamour and mystery that often characterize noir heroines. Florence Bates also works well as the aunt of Drake's character, though it would have been nice to see the script give her more to work with.

The past and present are tied together in an interesting and unpredictable plot. A more carefully scripted climactic sequence, bringing everything out in a more deliberate manner, would have topped it off even better. But even so, it remains among the better B-movies of its genre, and it makes for an hour and a half of good drama.