The Second Face presents the female predicament of postwar America; working women, especially "plain" women who are discarded by men. The setting is the garment business in 1950s Los Angeles, an appropriate venue to contrast plain. hard-working secretary and aspiring designer Phyllis with beautiful, empty-headed fashion models. The men are sleazy and unfaithful except for Phyllis' love interest Paul, who loves her from afar. In classic B movie style, Phyllis has a tragic accident when she rushes to prevent her friend Claire from shooting her unfaithful boyfriend (the women in this film aren't as helpless as they first seem; that's the film's strength). She is transformed by plastic surgery into a beautiful woman (in fact, she simply wears makeup, and a weirdly unflattering haircut). Now the lascivious men who rejected her before are interested. But what about Paul?
This slow-moving film has a Douglas Sirk-ian feel to it. The poster for the film with its dramatic mask and the words "No Man Wants Me!" promises a highly emotional drama. This film in fact, is about women, both married and single, coldly evaluating their chances in life and sizing up the men around them. This is a more interesting film than its given credit for.
This slow-moving film has a Douglas Sirk-ian feel to it. The poster for the film with its dramatic mask and the words "No Man Wants Me!" promises a highly emotional drama. This film in fact, is about women, both married and single, coldly evaluating their chances in life and sizing up the men around them. This is a more interesting film than its given credit for.