Review of The Second Woman

An architect in Carmel believes he's been jinxed with bad luck after being at the wheel the night his fiancée died in an auto accident; since then, his horse breaks a leg, his dog is poisoned, a painting in his house has been tampered with, blueprints go missing...and then, his beautiful house overlooking the cliffs burns to the ground! A female insurance analyst staying with her aunt takes a liking to the man and helps him solve the mystery behind his many 'accidents.' Low-budget, if elaborately plotted, variation on "Gaslight", written by Mort Briskin and Robert Smith (who also co-produced), benefits from the casting of Robert Young as the victim. Young is so smooth and natural as an actor--and also an imposing question-mark when he needs to be--that this wild-card scenario takes on dimensions simply by his presence alone. As the young woman who loves him (or, perhaps, underdogs in general), Betsy Drake is an odd one: you can't get a reading on her. Drake matches up well with Young; they share a polite, friendly rapport, and she's convincing playing amateur detective (she's rather like a grown-up Nancy Drew, or a girl scout leader), but I'm not so sure she was meant for romantic leading roles. The screenwriters wait until the finish line to reveal their plot--and it's quite a story! The supporting performances are mostly wooden, the narrative moves too early into flashback-mode, and the outcome may strike many viewers as ridiculous. Still, the locations are pleasant and Young and Drake are certainly watchable. ** from ****