The Second Woman (1951)
Robert Young, Betsy Drake

Robert Young stars in The Second Woman, a stylish black and white mystery movie. It is hard to put a label on this classic movie; it is not gothic and not quite noir. However, the subject matter makes it one of those dark movies that holds your attention and keeps you guessing to the end.

Jeff Cohalan (Robert Young) is a young architect who is devastated and haunted by the fact that the woman he was going to marry was killed in a car crash. After his fiancée is killed, Jeff’s life is rift with a series bizarre incidents, accidents and tragedies; each time leading to the death. Are they accidents or something more? When Jeff’s well-tended, prized rose bush dies, it appears to be a mean-spirited prank. Then things become more sinister and turn lethal. Jeff is so stricken with grief by his fiancée’s death that he cannot recognize what is really happening around him. He lives alone in the beautiful spacious house he built for his fiancée, he seldom sees anyone and never allows visitors to his home. It 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 the tales of the reclusive man who lives in the house. She makes it her business to get to know Jeff Cohalon. Ellen manages to get past Jeff's reluctance to widen his view and open his eyes to what is really going on. With her help, he discovers who is behind the mysterious accidents and why. The waves crashing against the rocks are spectacular in this movie, and add to the underlying sense of lurking danger. The beautiful scenery you see in this movie really is the California coast. The Second Woman was film at Carmel-by-the- Sea and Monterey California. (United States)

A Little Trivia

* Betsy Drake was married to Cary Grant for many years. She was also a an unaccredited writer for the screenplay Houseboat (1958) starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren screen vehicle.

* Jason Robards, Sr. appears as Stacy Rogers in this movie.

* Robert Young went on to become the kindly "Dr. Welby" in one of television’s first M.D. series. Marcus Welby, M.D. ran from 1969 until 1976.

* You can see more of Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, California in technicolor glory in The Parent Trap

~Vanette Ryanes

Vanette Ryanes is a true movie maven. She has been an avid movie fan for more than 35 years and has a video library of 200 plus movies. She has a vast knowledge of classic black and white, noir and vintage color movies. If you have questions about movies contact Vanette, (Vannie to her friends) for answers, advice and recommendations.