Customer Reviews

The Second Woman (Vol. 6 Hollywood Noir) [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A taut, well acted film noire. Robert Young gives a fine performance, as an architect haunted by the death of his fiancee in a car accident. Betsy Drake is charming and effective as the friend who helps him solve a series of "accidents" which are destroying everything he loves, including, perhaps, himself.

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again..." Wait, wrong movie. "Today," Ellen Foster tells us, "I looked upon the cliff where Hilltop stood. I can still see its hanging roofs against the cyprus trees. But Hilltop is no more. There is only a scar of jutting rock where once its windows glittered in the California sun." The Second Woman, starring Robert Young and Betsy Drake, may be no Rebecca but it is a tidy, effective mystery worth watching. You can be sure it will never be shown in college film studies classes, which is a shame. It's a solid example of the kind of professional, commercial movies Hollywood still was turning out even as the studios crumbled and public taste was changing.

In the wealthy coastal town of Pine Cliff, where the privileged many spend Friday and Saturday evenings at the Country Club, there is concern about Jeff Cohalan. He's an architect who seems to be going off the rails. His fiancée, Virginia Sheppard, died months ago in a car crash the night before they were to be married. It was going to be the perfect marriage. Virginia's wealthy father, Ben, was almost like a father over the years to Cohalan. Jeff is well liked and has the sympathy of many, including Amelia Foster, an older woman who lives next to Hilltop, Jeff's home that he designed. But it's not long after Ellen Foster, Amelia's young niece, comes to visit her that Jeff's apparent paranoia begins to grow into something dangerous. Ellen meets and is attracted to Jeff, but he seems emotionally tied to the memory of Virginia Sheppard. Lurking around is Keith Ferris (John Sutton) who works for Ben, resents Jeff and also is a member of Pine Cliff's privileged class. That he is a cad is apparent from the nasty condescension he gives everything he says. That he dislikes Jeff is as obvious as his little black moustache.

Unusual in a heroine, perhaps, Ellen is a certified public accountant, a specialist in compiling actuarial tables for an insurance company. She not only can add, she can put two and two together. When Ellen sees things happening to Jeff -- a rosebush dying, a portrait fading, architectural plans lost, a small sculpture broken, a horse with a leg broken, a dog dying, and then Hilltop burning - she knows paranoia doesn't enter into it. She also knows the probability of coincidence is astronomical. She doesn't for a minute believe Jeff has been causing these things. While Jeff seems to dither and slide into depression, Ellen disregards his wish that she drop any investigation. On her own, she sets out to research these occurrences. It's not long before we realize with pleasure just how smart Ellen is. It's just as satisfying near the end when we learn Jeff is just as smart as Ellen.

The Second Woman would be a much stronger movie, however, if the two leads were more dynamic. Betsy Drake was an attractive actress, wholesome and sympathetic, but she was as bland as milk. Robert Young was a fine actor with plenty of assurance and authority, but to my thinking he lacked that inner energy that draws you to a lead actor. Between the two of them, they just don't give the movie enough tension. John Sutton, in an odd way, provides the slight of hand that makes the movie fun. Sutton specialized in absolutely oily, reprehensible, over-civilized, effete heels. He has only to appear on the screen in any movie and we say to ourselves, "Ah ha, there's the villain." And he usually was. When we realize a third of the way through that he might be the villain but that he just might not be, I had to smile at how the movie used his style to possibly mislead me.

For a public domain film, the Alpha Video DVD transfer isn't all that bad. That's no guarantee other releases will be watchable.

Robert Young plays Jeff Cohalan, an architect who may or may not have caused the death of his bride-to-be several months ago. Now, as he becomes involved with a young woman staying nearby, strange "accidents" begin to plague his life ... is Jeff subconsciously "punishing" himself over his feelings of guilt, or is something more sinister going on?

Unfortunately, the outcome of the mystery is rather routine, the romance aspect of the plot is rather unconvincing, and though the film isn't exactly dull, it's not half the fun it could have been.

Alpha's DVD is about average for them (which is to say pretty poor by anyone else's standards). The picture is watchable, not too dark, but there are numerous instances of print damage and vertical lines appear on the right side of the picture for long periods of the film. Sound quality is again poor, but bearable. It's low and rather muffled throughout the film, and once or twice the dialogue drops out completely for a second, but after a while you get used to it. For the cheap price I paid, I didn't mind the sub-standard DVD quality too much - the movie is still watchable.

I had never heard of this movie, but it was a very pleasent surprise. It was suspenseful and a good watch. Well worth the purchase.

This atmospheric mystery has almost a gothic feel, the stark black and white photography of Hal Mohr meshing nicely with Tschaikousky's music to create a sustained mood throughout. Produced by Mort Briskin in conjunction with Robert Smith, who also wrote the story, it gradually pulls the viewer in deeper and deeper until completely immersed in the happenings.

A mysterious mood is set from the very beginning with shots of a house called Hilltop overlooking the California coastline. Betsy Drake's voiceover reveals in flashback the reason a simple knock on her door instills fear. Robert Young is the architect named Jeff who meets and charms Betsy Drake's Ellen Foster on a train bound for Pine Cliff. It is where he built Hilltop for a bride we discover died in a tragic car accident the day before their marriage. He has not been the same since, Dr. Hartley (Morris Carnovsky) stating his concern for his intermittent bouts of depression.

Ellen is a sweet girl who falls for Jeff during his more charming moments and is sympathetic to his darker moods. Ben Shepard (Henry O'Neill) is the would-have-been father-in-law he has remained close to, and Keith (John Sutton) is the slimy playboy lusting after Jeff's newfound love. An atmosphere of impending doom hangs over the couple's romance, and as misfortune begins to pile up on Jeff, Ellen suspects he is being given the gaslight treatment. Since he is obviously keeping a secret, it is unclear what is really going on, keeping the viewer guessing.

Drake is very likable as the CPA standing by Jeff even as he pushes her away. She knows a fading painting, a dying bush, and a wounded horse are a statistical improbability, Jeff's rotten luck a little too bad to be true. But when helping him puts her in danger, he hatches a dangerous plan to get at the truth. There is an earthy realism to their romance, a maturity that seems fresh for this time period. What it lacks in excitement it makes up for in psychological drama and atmosphere. Director James V. Kern's film may be less heralded than others made earlier in the cycle, but makes a nice one for a Saturday morning or late at night. Robert Young and Betsy Drake make a nice couple in a forgotten little gem which deserves a second look.

This is a good, if somewhat dated, film and shows Robert Young as someone other than Jim Anderson ("Father Knows Best") or Marcus Welby. It's on a par with his other movies from the late 1940s-early 1950s. The transfer of the film to DVD is adequate, at best, but at least the film is available and watchable. I recommend this DVD to film noir and Robert Young fans.

Forgotten noir with Robert Young and Betsy Drake...lots of atmosphere and, for its time, a good amount of guessing before you know who done it. Young's cliff side house is an amazing set piece.

The Alpha transfer is fair and watchable. The print is not great, and there are a couple of splices that iterrupt. I've yet to see any better print.