''The Bigamist'' is a 1953 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

directed by

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

starring

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won th ...

and

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

. Producer/Screenwriter

Collier Young Collier Hudson Young (August 19, 1908 – December 25, 1980) was an American film producer and writer, who worked on many films in the 1950s, before becoming a television producer for such shows as NBC's '' Ironside'' and CBS's '' The Wild, Wil ...

was married to Fontaine at the time and had previously been married to Lupino. ''The Bigamist'' has been cited as the first American feature film in which the female star of a film directed herself.

Plot

Harry (

) and Eve Graham (

) want to adopt a child, as Eve is

infertile Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal state ...

. Adoption agent Mr. Jordan (

) advises the couple that, as a matter of routine, he needs to investigate their backgrounds and current lifestyle thoroughly. Harry responds with a worried, pensive look, which concerns Jordan. Harry and Eve live in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and are co-owners of a business, with Harry traveling to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

frequently for work. Jordan arrives at Harry's Los Angeles office looking for information about Harry. The receptionist calls around to all the hotels, but none of them have a Harry Graham registered. One or two of the managers remember Harry, but he hasn't been checked into their hotels in months. Jordan is puzzled and even more determined to investigate Harry. He visits the address listed in the phone book for a "Harrison Graham" and there finds Harry, with a different wife—and a baby. When Jordan is about to call the police, Harry tells him, via a lengthy flashback, how he got into this situation. Upon learning of Eve's infertility, Harry suggested that she join him in his business as a means of coping with her disappointment. Though she'd done well at work, she soon began to focus solely on the business, leaving Harry feeling lonely. While staying in a hotel in L.A., Harry met an interesting woman named Phyllis (

), on a bus tour of Hollywood movie stars' homes. They spent time together but parted, with Harry not expecting to see her again. Talking on the phone with Eve that night, Harry tried to tell her about Phyllis and his loneliness, but Eve was interested only in talking about business. Back home, he tried again to explain how he believed they needed to work at becoming closer. He suggested planning a vacation together but she dismissed the idea, saying she was pleased with the state of their marriage. In L.A., Harry began seeing Phyllis again, platonically at first, but romantic feelings developed. Not wanting to fall in love, Phyllis had not allowed Harry to share with her anything about his background and thus remained ignorant of his marriage. On Harry's last night in town, they spent the night together. Back home, Harry resolved to rededicate himself to his marriage, and planned for someone else to handle the L.A. business. Eve was fully receptive, and she apologized for having been so emotionally distant. She embraced the idea of their adopting a child after having rejected it years before. However, at this point her father took ill and she had to spend time with her family in Florida. Harry stayed at home and began the adoption process. Three months later, with Eve still away, Harry had to return to L.A. to tend to business interests there. He discovered Phyllis was pregnant. She told Harry that she didn't wish to trap him and that he was free to leave. However, Harry would not turn his back on the responsibility he felt toward her and to their child. He planned to call Eve, confess his infidelity, and ask for a divorce, but then came news of her father's death. Hearing how distraught she was he couldn't go through with his plan, but also couldn't abandon Phyllis, and instead married her bigamously. With Eve pinning all of her hopes for happiness on becoming a mother, Harry had hoped to maintain his secret double life long enough for the adoption to be finalized and then divorce Eve, who would then at least still have her child. In the present, upon hearing the story, Jordan leaves without calling the police. Harry writes a farewell letter to the sleeping Phyllis and leaves the house. Eve returns to San Francisco as Harry is about to meet the police who are waiting for him there. Harry is tried for bigamy, and his two wives finally meet in court. The judge notes that once Harry has served his sentence, he'll be legally obligated to support both women. With regard to Harry's personal life, "it won't be a question of which woman he'll go back to, but rather which woman will take him back." The film ends with Harry awaiting his sentencing hearing.

Cast

as Eve Graham *

as Phyllis Martin *

as Mr. Jordan *

as Harry Graham / Harrison Graham *

Kenneth Tobey Kenneth Jesse Tobey (March 23, 1917 – December 22, 2002) was an extremely prolific American actor who performed in hundreds of productions during a career that spanned more than half a century, including his role as the star of the 1957-1 ...

as Tom Morgan, Defense Attorney *

Jane Darwell Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...

as Mrs. Connelley *

Peggy Maley Margaret June "Peggy" Maley (June 8, 1923 – October 1, 2007) was an American actress who appeared in film and television. In 1942, aged 18 or 19, she was crowned Miss Atlantic City. Career Film Maley delivered the feeder line to Marlon ...

as Phone Operator *

Lilian Fontaine Lilian Augusta Fontaine (née Ruse, formerly de Havilland; 11 June 1886 – 20 February 1975) was an English actress and mother of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Early years Fontaine was born in Reading, Berkshire. She received a scho ...

as Miss Higgins, Landlady

Reception

The film fell into difficulty when

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

pulled out of the picture, leaving Filmakers to distribute it. The film received rave reviews at the time of release, with Howard Thompson of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' calling it "Filmakers' best offering, to date". The plot cheekily mines aspects of Lupino’s own private life (sharing same scriptwriting husband with Fontaine; an extramarital pregnancy with Duff) and showcases the Hollywood homes of some of her friends on a see-the-stars bus-tour. The film has since earned acclaim from critics and is included in the book ''

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. It is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a ...

''. Chris Fujiwara calls it a "haunting film" which is "one of several out-of-nowhere masterpieces" to be directed by Lupino. He particularly praises the final courtroom scene, which he considers to be "shattering", with a "combination of ambiguity and intensity that recalls both

Carl Dreyer Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his movies are noted for their emotional aus ...

and

Nicholas Ray Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features pr ...

". When the two female leads exchange glances with each other in court they both knew what it meant to be married to the same man in real life - an inside joke not lost on Hollywood. The ''Encyclopedia of Film Noir'' considers ''The Bigamist'' to be "unusually ambiguous" for the period. Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner remark that ''The Bigamist'' is "not a sensationalized rendering of a potentially sordid subject, but a very human story of a man (Edmond O'Brien) tangled between two women".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

gave it a three-star rating, calling it "one of Lupino's best directorial efforts".TCM.com
/ref>

References

External links

''The Bigamist'' (1953) at IMDB
*
Trailer on Vimeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigamist, The 1953 films 1953 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Film noir Films directed by Ida Lupino Films scored by Leith Stevens Films set in Los Angeles Films set in San Francisco Films about polygamy Polygamy in fiction 1950s American films