The Bigamist (1953) DVD [Remastered Edition]   [2007]

The Bigamist is directed by Ida Lupino and adapted to screenplay by Collier Young from a story by Larry Marcus and Lou Schor. It stars Lupino herself with Edmund O'Brien, Joan Fontaine, Edmund Gwenn and Kenneth Tobey. Music is scored by Leith Stevens and cinematography by George Diskant.

Harry Graham (O'Brien) tells adoption agency inspector Mr. Jordan (Gwenn) how he came to have two wives. One in Los Angeles (Lupino), the other in San Francisco (Fontaine).

Initially released as part a double bill with Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker, The Bigamist is the lesser known film and the lesser thought of picture at that. Where The Hitch-Hiker is a more aggressive and claustrophobic noir picture, The Bigamist is more a Sirkian melodrama with noir touches. What transpires in the gifted hands of noir darling Lupino is a film examining a complex male protagonist, a guy suffering desperately from loneliness and alienation, his only moments of happiness comes in the arms of two women. If this sounds like Lupino is taking a sympathetic approach to Harry Graham? Then yes that is true, but he is portrayed as being morally ambiguous and weak, with the deft insertion of fate's deadly hand into the story as Harry tries on occasions to do the legal and right thing.

"I can't figure out my feelings towards you, I despise you, and I pity you. I don't even want to shake your hand, and yet I almost wish you luck."

Once the story reaches the pinnacle, female parties are left dislocated, hurt and confused about their emotions, Harry is crushed, and we believe his pain because he is not a selfish bastard. Some of the most telling passages of dialogue come from other men, Gwenn's agency inspector and the Judge (John Maxwell) presiding over the court case, these helping to not stereotype the Graham character. The finale also refuses to take an easy way out, it's left deliberately ambiguous, the final shot open ended. Shot at real L.A. and Frisco locations, film has some nice visual touches. Harry in shadowy hotel rooms, his lonely walks down town, while venetian blinds feature and a shadowed bathed staircase banister showcases the talents of Diskant (On Dangerous Ground/The Narrow Margin/Kansas City Confidential). It's not an overtly film noir picture visually, but there are snatches in the mix. Cast are bang on form, with O'Brien particularly impressive when portraying conflicted emotions.

It's not perfect, strong characters the lead trio may be, but they are all so nice, there's no edge there. There's an inside joke that comes off as flat and misplaced, while Stevens' score is often intrusive in desperately trying to set up emotional impact. But these are small complaints that don't stop the picture's great strengths from storming through to hold the attention. It's an interesting picture, a cautionary tale choosing to analyse rather than point the finger. It deserves to be more well known these days and certainly shouldn't be viewed as an apology for Bigamy. 7.5/10

For the first time, I felt needed; I loved Eve, but I never felt she needed me.

An unusual film as of course you know that it is about from the title. Made in a time when such activities were more seriously thought about. Nowadays people don't bother getting married let alone marry two women.

It is drawn up as a moral tale as we are supposed to have sympathy for the husband who marries two women as he feels he wandered into it and as a result we are not supposed to blame him. There is a hint that his first wife is somehow to blame by not giving him a child and much is made of the fact that she becomes a career women and business women. These are politically incorrect things to say these days. Women can be both mothers and have a career. for a husband to blame him her for being career orientated may cut no ice these days.

Was it just because she couldn't produce a child, again that would not create sympathy in a modern audience.

He spends a lot of the film in flash back telling the investigator why he meandered into marrying two women for all the right reasons.

It ends with a court hearing and the judge such that bigamy is morally repugnant and that whatever sentence he gets will not match what society will think of him and that he will end up not having either of the women he married.

We are left without the sentence and we are in doubt as to whether the women will reject him.

A nice period piece with some great acting by the lead stars.

Good film but not great as the subject matter is a bit dated and we would not take such a high moral tone

The film starts with a husband and wife, Harry (Edmond O'Brien) and Eve
(Joan Fontaine), going through the procedure of adopting a child with
adoption official Mr Jordan (Edmund Gwenn). Mr Jordan senses something
strange about the behaviour of Harry and so investigates his past which
takes him to Los Angeles where he discovers that Harry uses a different
name and has another wife Phyliss (Ida Lupino) and child. The main bulk
of the film is told in flashback as Harry explains the circumstances to
Mr Jordan. At the end, we are left to decide who, if any, of the women
will stand by him as a judge announces that sentence will be passed in
a week's time.....

The film plays out so that you are sympathetic to all 3 major stars -
O'Brien, Fontaine and Lupino - and has an ambiguous ending to some. I
find that the ending is clear as the final shot says it all. From the
beginning, I thought that Mr Jordan was suspicious for no good reasons
and that his delving into the past as he did was unrealistic. We are
led to believe that he had made a mistake in the past to explain his
thoroughness, but he was still a jobsworth to the power of a million. I
didn't like him! When Harry goes on a Beverly Hills tour of houses of
movie stars (where he meets Phyliss), we are shown the house of Edmund
Gwenn, who plays Mr Jordan in the film. Harry should have stopped the
bus and torched the place!

I think the film needed more excitement but its OK.