The Second Woman

11/2/2013

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 force

4/4/2022

"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 wi