United Artists
Not part of a collection.
The Second Woman
Not since 'SPELLBOUND' such a masterpiece of suspense!
In flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramodern clifftop house. Ellen is strongly attracted to Jeff, who's being plagued by unexplainable accidents, major and minor. Bad luck, persecution...or paranoia? Warned that Jeff could be dangerous, Ellen fears that he's in danger, as the menacing atmosphere darkens.
- Original title
- The Second Woman
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Apr 4, 2022 · via TMDB
"Ellen" (Betsy Drake) is visiting her family on the coast when she is introduced to their neighbour "Jeff" (Robert Young) who lives in one of those concrete new-builds that wouldn't look out of place in an episode of "Thunderbirds"! They take a bit off a shine to each other, but after a while she learns that he is rather accident prone. Sometimes little things, sometimes - well you wouldn't want him to drive you anywhere! What's behind this mystery? It's told using a mix of real time and flashback, so the ultimate jeopardy is a little compromised from the outset, and Young is just too lightweight to carry this drama. It has a few moments of genuine suspense though, Michael Curtiz does manage that; but for the most part it is all just a bit too much like serendipity is in a very bad mood with "Jeff". Not terrible, but you are unlikely to remember it afterwards.
John Chard
Nov 2, 2013 · via TMDB
The Pine Cliff Paranoia. The Second Woman (AKA: Ellen) is directed by James V. Kern and co-written by Mort Briskin and Robert Smith. It stars Robert Young, Betsy Drake, John Sutton, Florence Bates, Morris Carnovsky and Henry O’Neil. Music is by Joseph Nussbaum and cinematography by Hal Mohr. Architect Jeff Cohalan (Young) is a troubled man, after the mysterious death of his fiancée in a car crash, he has been acting strangely and lives a lonely life at the Hilltop House he designed for his bride to be. When he meets Ellen Foster (Drake), things perk up as he becomes attracted to her. But he is constantly plagued by bad luck, something which doesn’t go unnoticed by Ellen, who suspects that Jeff may not be the victim of paranoia, but of something sinister perpetrated by outside forces… The Coast of Kings. If you can get away from the looming presence of such great films like Gaslight and Rebecca, then James Kern’s movie holds some gothic noir rewards. The house at the centre of tale is a modern development, which is a shame as it goes against the coastal atmosphere lifting up from the Carmel-On-Sea location that was used for these parts of the film, but otherwise there’s a strong brooding mystery bubbling away throughout. As the bizarre instances of misfortune start to mount up on Jeff Cohalan, with director Kern showing a good appreciation of pacing, it builds up a menacing head of steam and then unravels a better than adequate denouement. Vivian, Vivian, Vivian… Young and Drake inevitably tug at a romantic thread, but they make for an engaging couple and Drake especially gets her teeth into a female role of intelligent substance. John Sutton files in for some decent caddish quotient and Bates and O’Neil add some professionally elder support. Mohr’s (Bullets or Ballets/The Lineup) photography is the key, consistently at one with the psychological beats of the plotting, his lighting compositions make the film seem far more higher in production value than it was. A tale of memory lapses, pet bothering, depression, ugly real estate, dastards and romance, is nicely cloaked by ominous coastal atmospherics and Tchaikovsky! 7/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Amazon Video
FlixFling
fuboTV
MGM+ Amazon Channel
Philo
YouTube TV
MGM Plus
Fandor Amazon Channel
FlixFling
Rakuten Viki
IndieFlix
IndieFlix Shorts Amazon Channel
Great American Pure Flix Amazon Channel
Artiflix
Amazon Video
FlixFling
Robert Young
Jeff Cohalan
Betsy Drake
Ellen Foster
John Sutton
Keith Ferris
Florence Bates
Amelia Foster
Morris Carnovsky
Dr. Raymond Hartley
Henry O'Neill
Ben Sheppard
Jean Rogers
Dodo Ferris
Raymond Largay
Maj. Badger
Shirley Ballard
Vivian Sheppard
Jason Robards Sr.
Stacy Rogers
Steven Geray
Balthazar Jones
Jimmie Dodd
Mr. Nelson
Smoki Whitfield
Albert
Cliff Clark
Police Sergeant
Bess Flowers
Fiesta Guest
Vici Raaf
Sue
Franklyn Farnum
Country Club Guest
Harold Miller
Fiesta Guest
Cosmo Sardo
Country Club Guest
Boris Leven
Production Design
James V. Kern
Director
La Porte
Chinese Angel
Gönül Meyhanesi
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Olemme kaikki syyllisiä
It's a Wonderful Life
Paths of Glory
Tokyo Story
Casablanca
Vertigo
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
M
Una cita con la vida
Rebecca
The Third Man
The Ascent
Rosemary's Baby
Freaks
Ace in the Hole
Misery
Notorious
The Maltese Falcon
Brief Encounter
Strangers on a Train
The Killing
Sweet Smell of Success
The Big Sleep
White Heat
Angels with Dirty Faces
Blind Chance
Gilda
Gaslight
Scarface
Distant Lights
The Set-Up
The Lady from Shanghai
Dark Passage
The Letter
Driving Miss Daisy
Murder, My Sweet
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Kiss Me Deadly
An Inspector Calls
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Revolutionary Road
The Gifts of My Cousin Maria
Elephant
Two Sons of Francisco
The Belly of an Architect
Brighton Rock
Carancho
Dream Lover
Body and Soul
The Blue Dahlia
Better Days
They Made Me a Fugitive
Mirrors No. 3
Crash
Jungle Fever
Titane
Yhden yön hinta
The Hoodlum
The Undercover Man
Hallow Road
Lady in the Lake
Earthquake
Daybreak
The Crooked Web
Les Biches
The Brasher Doubloon
Moment of Terror
Young Adam
Nutcrackers
Hell Bound
Cut Bank
Highway Dragnet
A Dangerous Profession
I Was a Communist for the FBI
My Gun Is Quick
The Broken
Black Crown
The Big Empty
Love and Anger
Ursula l'esclave de l'amour
Hit and Run
Boxing Helena
Port of New York
The Hot Month of August
No Escape
The Crimson Key
Bad Boy
The Glass Alibi
Snow Angel
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery
The Girl with the Golden Chain
Accessories
Breath
Untitled
Rear Window
Sunset Boulevard
Witness for the Prosecution
Citizen Kane
Cast Away
Laura
Shadow of a Doubt
Erin Brockovich
Glengarry Glen Ross
Dark Passage
The Naked City
The Poseidon Adventure
3 Women
Pitfall
Fearless
Interiors
Leave No Trace
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Sorry, Wrong Number
Born to Kill
Harper
The Salt Path
The Dark Corner
The Deep End of the Ocean
The Blue Gardenia
The House on Telegraph Hill
Man from Reno
A Wife's Nightmare
Sleep, My Love
Lady in the Lake
Earthquake
Black Angel
Donovan's Echo
Queen of Earth
Abandoned
Nancy
Jul 7, 1950
