The Bigamist
The Bigamist
NR | 03 December 1953 (USA)
The Bigamist Trailers

San Francisco businessman Harry Graham and his wife and business partner, Eve, are in the process of adopting a child. When private investigator Mr. Jordan uncovers the fact that Graham has another wife, Phyllis, and a small child in Los Angeles, he confesses everything.

Reviews
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
GeoPierpont Oh "How Could I Possibly Hurt My Wives Any Further"??? Well, if that was really your motivation to prevent any more pain to either party, I call BS! You just did not want to deal with any type of "scene" or angry response. If you realllly cared you would never have hooked up so excitedly with a complete stranger. What the heck were you thinking at that moment you wimp of a DB??? I could not fathom this numnutz refused to even hint at what was going on. Only through the court system was he in anyway truthful. Of course, one can only imagine as we received no information on the proceedings except for the two wives staring at each other lovingly. The victim pose.Who would take him back?? What a mystery, the woman with the baby and he saves $85 per week or thereabouts. Simple. And who could resist those local trips to San Berdu! I found the direction to be rather flawless, save for the syrupy music score that prepped the viewer for every scene...boring! The acting was decent but expected a few outbursts of emotion when nothing was making sense to the poor gals vs vacant stares. I wonder what wrath Ida incurred making this film. It would be of great interest to hear the true tale of trying to gain respect in this still male dominated career path.High recommend for women who want clues on how to determine if your husband is married to another with a new baby. Also, kudos to Ida for her dual efforts in direction and acting.
dougdoepke One of a handful of low budget films from pioneering woman film-maker Ida Lupino. Known mainly for her soulful screen portrayals in the 1940's of downtrodden women, she managed this career turn in the early 50's, a remarkable feat given a production industry so thoroughly dominated by men.Her best known feature is the chilling and critically acclaimed account of serial killer Emmet Myers, called "The Hitchhiker". But all her films are marked by an earnest concern for the lives of ordinary people, whether menaced in extreme circumstance or in more ordinary circumstance by the unwed pregnancy of "The Outrage". Moreover, at a time when studios were fending off small screen television with big budget Technicolor, she gamely persisted with the small, the intimate and the unglamorous."The Bigamist" remains an oddity, very much an artifact of its time, but worth viewing for its sensitive handling of male loneliness, a topic for which macho Hollywood has never had much time. The acting is first-rate from a trio of de-glamorized Hollywood professionals, including the poignant Lupino; there's also Edmond O'Brien in a low-key, nuanced portrayal of a man trapped by emotions, showing once again what a fine, intelligent performer he was. Notice how elliptically the pregnancy is presented, and how subtly Fontaine's career woman is projected into the breakup. Both are very much signs of that time. Although the subject matter may have tempted, the results never descend into bathos or soap-opera, even if final courtroom scene appears stagy and anti-climatic. All in all, it's a very well wrought balancing act.Lupino's reputation should not rest on gender. This film as well as so many of her others demonstrate what a versatile and unusual talent she was, whether in front of the camera or behind. Too bad, she never got the recognition from an industry to which she contributed so much.
wes-connors Edmond O'Brien as "Harry Graham is a lonely traveling salesman looking for love. He finds it by marrying an eligible young woman (Joan Fontaine) - and then by marrying another eligible young woman (Ida Lupino) in another city. When Harry and Eve Graham try to adopt an baby, the head of the agency senses Harry is keeping a secret and does some investigating. Via flashbacks, Harry tells the adoption agent how he ended up in two marriages," according to the DVD sleeve description.Producer/writer Collier Young was married to director/star Ida Lupino (1948-1951) and co-star Joan Fontaine (1952-1961), which should be totally irrelevant - but, considering the film's Hollywood movie star bus tour, seems appropriate to mention. The script even notes Edmund Gwenn's resemblance to a certain holiday icon, and notes the actor's appearance in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947). Everyone tries very hard to make "The Bigamist" work, but it's a painfully hopeless cause.**** The Bigamist (12/3/53) Ida Lupino ~ Edmond O'Brien, Joan Fontaine, Ida Lupino, Edmund Gwenn
Alex da Silva 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.