Guest Author - Vannie

Robert Young stars in this stylish black and white mystery movie. I bought this tape years ago because it was on clearance table. It turned out to be a good buy; this is a very good movie.

It's hard to put a label on The Second Woman, it's not gothic and not quite noir. However, its subject matter makes it one of those dark mysterys that hold your attention. Jeff Cohalan (Robert Young) is a young architect who is devastated and haunted by the fact the woman he was going to marry was killed in a car crash. After his fiancee is killed, his life becomes a series bizarre accidents and tragedies; each time leading to the death of something he loves. Some simply mean-spirited some more deadly. A well-tended prize rose bush dies; his dog and horse die.

Jeff lives alone in the house he built for his fiancee. He seldom sees anyone and never allows visitors to his home which has become a shrine to a dead woman and a prison to him. While visiting her aunt, Ellen Foster (Betsy Drake) becomes intrigued by house on the hill overlooking the California coast and tales of the reclusive man who lives in the house.

Ellen manages to get past Jeff's reluctance to widen his view and open his eyes to what is really going on around him. With her help, he discovers the who and what behind the mysterious accidents. The waves crashing against the rocks scenes are spectacular in this movie. They add to the underlying sense of lurking danger. If you are a film collector I recommend that you add The Second Woman to your list.