Second Chance (1950)

Interesting facts

Second Chance is a 1950 American black-and-white drama film directed by William Beaudine and produced by Paul F. Heard for the Protestant Film Commission. It stars Ruth Warrick, John Hubbard, and Hugh Beaumont. The story centers on a middle-aged woman who has received a dire health prognosis from her doctor and proceeds to look back on her life in flashback, seeing herself change from a sweet and idealistic young bride into a brittle and disillusioned older woman. In the end, the wake-up call is really a dream, but the woman realizes that only by reconnecting with her Christian faith and with God will she manage to improve her life and relationships.

Production

Unlike other short films produced by the Protestant Film Commission, Second Chance is a full-length feature film with a running time of 72 minutes. The screenplay, by Russell Presnall, was adapted from the short story Second Chance by Faith Baldwin, published in the August 1948 issue of Woman's Day.

Though only 36 years old, Ruth Warrick "defied all Hollywood conventional behavior" by agreeing to have her face and hair aged by makeup to play Emily as a middle-aged woman. According to syndicated Hollywood columnist Jimmie Fidler, Warrick was one of a number of Hollywood actors who believed in contributing their talents to films promoting spiritual values in addition to traditional Hollywood entertainment fare.

Hugh Beaumont, who plays the pastor, was in real life a lay minister in the Methodist church.

Second Chance was the second of eleven films directed by William Beaudine for the Protestant Film Commission. Beaudine typically shot each film in less than a week. Production began on December 17, 1949, at Nassour Studios in Los Angeles.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.