106: The Bigamist

            It’s a sad truth that Hollywood turned its back on female writers and directors during the golden age of the 1930s and 40s.  Women had been major contributors, particularly as scribes, during the earliest days of the moving pictures, but by the time WWII turned the industry on its ear a female director or producer was a scarcity.  This is a trend that we still largely observe to this day, especially in the case of directing, but a much needed reversal has slowly begun.  One often noted exception from the golden age however, remains Ida Lupino.  Sometimes called a “poor man’s Bette Davis” Lupino was a fine actress in the Warner Company who could hold the attention of an audience even when sharing the screen with the likes of Bogart.

            As an actress she’s best remembered for her role opposite Bogey in Warner’s High Sierra (1941), but by the end of the 40s she had taken up duties behind the camera as well.  She directed eight features over a 17 year period – her first at the age of 31.  Of those titles, the most often cited by the film snob set is 1953s The Bigamist.  The film is the story of Harry Graham (Edmond O’Brien), a refrigerator salesman living an unintended double life.  Traveling on business from his home in San Francisco to Los Angeles, his loneliness leads him into the arms of a young waitress (Lupino).  The only problem is that he has a wife (Joan Fontaine), who doubles as his office manger, back in San Fran.  He loves both women, but in different ways, and when the waitress gets pregnant he does what he thinks is honorable.

            As irony would have it, he’s been trying for children with the first Mrs. Graham for years, eventually accepting that they’ll never conceive.  As a result, their relationship began to focus on their sales business, leaving Graham extra lonely on his frequent trips downstate.  With the second wife and a child adding a new meaning to his life, underhanded as it might be, Graham’s rejuvenated spark of vitality encourages the first Mrs. to want to adopt.  Wanting to please her he agrees to begin the process, but is reluctant to sign over consent of personal investigation.

            The story is told in flashback to an adoption agency detective who stumbles upon Graham’s secret in Los Angeles.  What makes the picture intriguing is the way in which Graham is able to convince the audience that he loves two women whom he simultaneously betrays.  Why didn’t he tell the waitress he was married when they met?  Was he looking for an affair?  Why hasn’t he decided between the two Mrs. Grahams?  This material might have been turned into comedy in the hands of another director, but Lupino finds a way to tow a strait line between tragedy and social commentary here, never straying too far into either territory.

            This film is not a masterpiece.  Of that I’m certain, despite what the 1001 text claims.  However, it is a good film that will capture an audience for its limited runtime of 80 minutes, and perhaps leave them heartbroken by its courtroom conclusion.  That scene leaves more questions than answers as well, but is the correct note to end on.  There will be no happy ending for the three people caught in this love triangle, but to show an all-out tragedy might dispel any notion that they ever loved at all.  That’s the touch that a female director brings to this material.  It is serious, but not without some sympathy.  I began writing this review with the intention of claiming that this piece would not be included in the 1001 canon were it not directed by a woman, and it turns out I was right…but for the wrong reason.

Language: English

Runtime: 80 Minutes

Available from Netflix.com

Grade: 2.5 Hats Off

Note: I’m not a frequent viewer of NBCs Thursday night lineup, but couldn’t miss the background namedrop of one of Graham’s refrigeration colleagues, a certain Bob Vance.