Everett Jones on 05 May at 14:35Report abuse

During fund-raising for 1953's THE BIGAMIST, the independent production team of "The Filmmakers" would caution potential investors that, contrary to the lurid, pulpy title on the cover of the script, what they had in mind was not “not the sordid story of a sex maniac, but the strangest story ever told with detection by the law coming closer every minute.” They stayed true to their promise, turning out a movie which is more social issue melodrama than film noir, despite the presence, behind and before the camera, of one of that genre's leading lights, the powerhouse actress Ida Lupino. For her, THE BIGAMIST concluded a startling five year run, beginning with 1949's NEVER FEAR, as Hollywood's first female filmmaker since the 1930s' Dorothy Arzner. After this film's tepid performance at the box office, most of the remainder of her directorial credits were on the small screen (including the pilot for GILLIGAN'S ISLAND), with the unexciting exception of the 1966 novices and nun comedy THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS.

Working here with her former husband Collier Young, the movie's producer, Lupino created a film more interested in sympathetically examining its characters' problems than casting a tabloid-harsh light on them. The lion's share of those afflictions are taken up by the titular character, traveling salesman Harrison- or is it Harry?- Graham. As played by prolific character actor Edmond O'Brien with his typically dyspeptic countenance, every inch and ounce of those problems can be read and seen in his face. While in 1946 he had appeared in the noir landmark THE KILLERS as an insurance investigator obsessed with plumbing mob contract victim Burt Lancaster's past, here it is his character who must bear the scrutiny of another person's inquiries into his inner nature. The role of semi-pro detective, meanwhile, is assumed by the unlikely choice of Edmund Gwynne- yes, MIRACLE ON 34th STREET's Macy's department store Santa- as adoption agency official Mr. Jordan, tasked to examine the character of Mr. Graham and his wife, Eve (Joan Fontaine), when they apply to become the new parents of a baby boy. Though the interview which begins the film proceeds smoothly enough, Mr. Jordan senses some irritant disturbing the ostensibly upstanding, respectable facade of the San Francisco-based businessman Graham, who seems far less excited about the prospect of adoption than his wife. Considering the movie's title, it's probably not too much of a spoiler to reveal that what is bothering Harry Graham, as Gwynne's investigator soon learns, is a whole other family, including wife (Lupino) and infant son, stashed in Los Angeles. Graham goes on to narrate a flashback, the script's most noirish stroke, which explains how he

Bringing her performing expertise to bear, Lupino elicits strong work from her cast which goes some way towards hitting the goal of creating compassion for people in apparently sordid circumstances. At least a sliver of credit, though, should be parceled out to her main creative partner, and one-time domestic partner, Young, whose idea it was to cast his current spouse, in Joan Fontaine, opposite his ex Lupino. This choice no doubt contributed to the tangible sense of tension present in the performances. Other baggage brought along with the actors includes, of course, Edmund Gwynne’s best known prior role. The movie allows its otherwise omnipresent sense of tension to be broken by small in-jokes in the dialogue referencing that most famous of Gwynne’s performances, with O’Brien’s character repeatedly comparing the older actor’s to Santa. Though in many respects the film was strikingly independent for its time, produced on a slim budget through now-pervasive but then-rare techniques like advertising tie-ins and location shooting, these in-jokes remind us that THE BIGAMIST was made by people who were Hollywood insiders in their own right. While first visiting Los Angeles, Harry Graham takes a Hollywood bus tour which takes visitors around to the homes of stars, which just happen to include Gwynne’s, an oddly “meta” moment for a film of this time.
For audiences willing to forgive what might now seem overly emphatic moments in the performances and direction, THE BIGAMIST can still make for a compelling viewing experience. In fact, I’d recommend watching the film more than once, a tack which has certainly helped my appreciation of Lupino’s achievement. Her decision for the movie’s climax, a counterintuitive one for the time which remains so today, can be off-putting upon a first viewing. Lupino chose not to give the audience an easy answer to Harry Graham’s dilemma, but to leave the ethical question she had raised up in the air. Though THE BIGAMIST is a modest film, it still deserves to seen and remembered by audiences today for all of the reasons I’ve mentioned, and others besides, but all traceable back to the talent of Ida Lupino and her exceptional cast.

Baxter Martin on 15 September at 23:10Report abuse

“The Bigamist” (1953, Ida Lupino)

The first shot of Ida Lupino’s “The Bigamist” is of the Golden Gate bridge with the city of San Francisco in the background. From there we are treated, courtesy of Ms. Lupino as director (her fifth of six films accredited to her ), to the peculiar world of one man in said city. Edmond O’Brien and Joan Fontaine play Harry and Eve Graham who are at an interview at an adoption agency with none other than Santa Claus (okay, not really, but he played him in “Miracle on 34th Street”). During the interview, Mr. Graham seems a bit tense and Edmund Gwenn’s character, Mr. Jordan, assumes the role of investigator into the life of Harry Graham because he just knows something’s askew.
If the title alone doesn’t interest today’s viewer, considering it is from 1953, perhaps the argument of seriously considering bigamy might game you. All four of the main actors are terrific in their roles. Let’s start with Edmond O’Brien who plays the lead Harry/Harrison Graham. Taking him for physical value, he is a sort of sad-sack and second rate hero, but O’Brien manages to make us actually feel for a guy who has chosen a life of two wives. Joan Fontaine’s Eve (of S.F.) is a dainty, affectionate, loving, working girl who wants a family more than anything and loves Harry. Ida Lupino’s Phyllis Martin/Graham (of L.A.) is a more rough edged, filled with sarcasm, woman of the world who is transformed through her love and life with Mr. Graham into a loving, caring wife and mother who sees the glass in half-full light.
We, the viewers, are shown all the details of Mr. Graham’s double life through back-story while he is filling in the details for the investigating Mr. Jordan. Yes, it’s strange (or maybe not) to think that we could sympathize with both Mr. Graham and both Mrs.’s, but Mr. Jordan, being our liaison to the characters, does what is right by his professional duty in the matter of adoption for Harry Graham but also develops a sense of sympathy for all involved. Perhaps they could all live together?
This is a solidly good film by the bold and talented Lupino, who would make only one more film 13 years later. She was clearly a pioneer in her own time by bucking the studio contract system and making movies film to film and independently. There were not too many female directors back in the 50’s or actors who would buck the system. The actors are all true professionals who make this “B” movie stand out as something to check out.