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.
