The Bigamist (1953)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Ida Lupino

Writers:

Larry Marcus (story) and
Lou Schor (story) ...

Release Date:

3 December 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Wanted by two women!

Plot:

Harry and Eve Graham are trying to adopt a baby. The head of the agency senses Harry is keeping a secret and does some investigating...

Plot Keywords:

Adoption | Chinese Restaurant | Los Angeles California | Husband And Wife | Family Secret

Cast

Joan Fontaine	...	Eve Graham
Ida Lupino	...	Phyllis Martin
Edmund Gwenn	...	Mr. Jordan
Edmond O'Brien	...	Harry Graham / Harrison Graham
Kenneth Tobey	...	Tom Morgan, Defense Attorney
Jane Darwell	...	Mrs. Connelley
Peggy Maley	...	Phone Operator
Lillian Fontaine	...	Miss Higgins, Landlady
Matt Dennis	...	Himself, Singer
John Maxwell	...	Judge

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16677, Adult Audience)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Filmakers, The

Trivia:

During the tour of the movie star homes, the houses the driver says belong to Jack Benny and Jimmy Stewart are their actual homes on Roxbury Drive.

Quotes:

Harry Graham: How can a man call a woman his wife for eight years - someone who you love, who loves you - how can you call her and tell her that you must have a divorce? Worse than that, you've been unfaithful - you're going to be a father. How can you hurt someone so much?

Movie Connections:

References Harvey (1950)

Soundtrack:

It Wasn't The Stars That Thrilled Me

A family affair of sorts

Ida Lupino directs and costars in "The Bigamist," a 1953 film starring Edmond O'Brien, Joan Fontaine and Edmund Gwenn, as well as Lupino. O'Brien and Fontaine play a married San Francisco couple, Harry and Eve Graham, who are unable to have children and are planning to adopt. Eve is a very successful businesswoman; Harry is a traveling salesman with a big territory in Los Angeles. Harry becomes quite nervous when he realizes that a thorough background check must be done before the adoption can take place. Mr. Jordan (Gwenn), who works for the adoption agency, knows something is wrong but can't quite put his finger on it. Eventually he finds out - Harry Graham is Harrison Graham in Los Angeles, and there he has another wife (Lupino) and a new baby. Harry tells Jordan the whole story of meeting Eve (Lupino) in Los Angeles, drifting into an affair with her, learning she was pregnant and being unable to abandon her.

Well directed by Lupino, the film pushes the sympathy toward Harry and his dilemma and keeps a good pace and interest throughout. Fontaine was no longer a big movie star, having passed the magic age of 30 several years before, and she can be seen often in these black and white B movies of the '50s. She does a good job and looks quite glamorous, but Lupino's role is the showier one. Edmond O'Brien does an excellent job as the beleaguered Harry.

This film truly was a family affair - this screenplay about a man with two wives was written by Collier Young, the ex-husband of Lupino and, at that time, the current husband of Fontaine; and Fontaine's mother, Lillian Fontaine, plays Lupino's landlady. Worth seeing, if only to wonder what went on during the filming.