The Second Woman
A spooky psychological drama, The Second Woman is often misdescribed as film noir but really it’s much closer to being overwrought melodrama of the sort Douglas Sirk used to make. That’s probably misdirection on my part – because there is no sotto voce examination of social mores going on here. Instead we’re asked to try and figure out who’s not being entirely on the level. There’s lots of misdirection in the film too. Robert Young eventually wound up playing the avuncular, reassuring medic Marcus Welby MD on TV but is in his element here, playing against his cosy image. The question the film asks of his character, successful architect Jeff Cohalan, is: how … Read more