The Bigamist is a 1953 . The story is by Larry Marcus and Lou Schor, with a screenplay by Collier Young. The film is directed by Ida Lupino. It would be 12 years before she directs another film, The Trouble with Angels, which would end up being the last film she directed. The screenwriter, Collier Young, was married to Joan Fontaine at the time and also had been married to Ida Lupino.
In the film, during the tour of the movie star homes, the actual homes of Jack Benny and Jimmy Stewart on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills are shown. Also shown is the home of Edmund Gwenn, who starred in the film.
Plot
Harry (Edmond O'Brien) and Eve Graham (Joan Fontaine) want to adopt a child. Mr. Jordan (Edmund Gwenn), the adoption agent, warns the couple that he would need to investigate them thoroughly. Harry looks strangely at Mr. Jordan, which worries the older gentleman.
Harry travels to Los Angeles frequently for work. Mr. Jordan arrives at the LA office looking for information about Harry. The receptionist calls around to all the hotels, but none of them have a Harry Graham registered. One or two of the managers remember Harry, but he hadn't been checked in to the hotel in months. Mr. Jordan becomes very puzzled and even more interested in investigating Harry. He finds a letter opener on Harry's desk with the name Harrison Graham. Checking the phone book, Mr. Jordan discovers an address for Harrison Graham.
When he arrives at the address, Harry opens the door. He tries to get rid of Mr. Jordan when suddenly a baby wails from the next room. That's when Mr. Jordan uncovers Harry's secret: that he's living a double life. When Mr. Jordan is about to call the police, Harry explains to him how he got involved with his second wife, and how he got to be in the trouble that he is in.
One day, about 8 months ago, while staying in a hotel in LA, Harry gets lonely for Eve. He goes for a walk and finds a tour bus going around showing stars' homes. He becomes instantly interested in the lady, Phyllis (Ida Lupino), sitting across the aisle. At first she doesn't seem very interested in him, but once the tour ends, she asks if he wants to get dinner at the restaurant where she works. They talk and spend time together. Harry doesn't expect to ever see Phyllis again.
When he gets back to the hotel that night, he tries to tell Eve everything about Phyllis, and about his loneliness, but Eve changes the topic. Back home, he tries again, planning a vacation for the two of them, but she dismisses the idea and turns away to sleep. pretty soon Harry's begun a relationship with Phyllis.
Eve gets a telegram about her father and she rushes to be with her family in Florida, but before she leaves, she apologizes to Harry for the way she had been behaving and tells him she wants to adopt a child. For the next few months Harry stays close to home and begins the adoption process. Three months later, Harry goes back to LA looking for Phyllis, but she is no longer working at the restaurant. He tracks her down at the boarding house she's living in and that's when she tells him that she's pregnant.
Harry plans to call Eve to ask for a divorce when she calls him to give him the news of her father's death. Hearing how distraught she is, he can't go through his plan to ask for a divorce. But he also can't leave Phyllis, and so he proposes to her. He begins to live his double life that night.
Back to the present, once he's done telling his tale, Harry expects Mr. Jordan to phone the police, but he doesn't. He simply leaves. Overcome with intense feelings of guilt, Harry writes Phyllis a letter and leaves. Back in San Francisco, he doesn't have time to explain to Eve before the police catch up with him.
Harry ends up in court, where the two women come face-to-face. He wanted and loved both women, but in the end, he loses both of them. Or does he?
Cast
Lillian Fontaine as Miss Higgins
External links
