---
title: "The Bigamist"
year: 1953
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-bigamist"
fi1m_id: "the-bigamist"
imdb_id: "tt0045557"
tmdb_id: 74122
wikidata_id: "Q594498"
fi1m_score: 74
critics_reviews: 3
published: "2026-09-25T05:32:46.672229+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-25T05:32:54.276773+00:00"
region: "DE"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Bigamist (1953)

Directed by Ida Lupino · 1h 20m · Drama, Romance

## Identity

The Bigamist

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-bigamist
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-bigamist
- **IMDb ID:** tt0045557
- **TMDB ID:** 74122
- **Wikidata ID:** Q594498
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045557/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/74122, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q594498

**Fi1m score: 74** · Critics: 3 of 6 reviews so far

*In a sentence:* We spent an awkward amount of time feeling sorry for a man with two wives

> Ida Lupino makes *The Bigamist* a persuasive, compassionate drama about a man whose excuses do not quite deserve her patience. The performances convince more readily than the framing story.

## Synopsis

Harry Graham (Edmond O’Brien) is a salesman whose life involves two women: Eve Graham (Joan Fontaine) and Phyllis Martin (Ida Lupino). He is also a bigamist. For Harry, keeping both women in his life means maintaining two relationships whose demands cannot comfortably fit together. His own unhappiness does not tell him what to do next, or how to avoid hurting either woman. The drama follows his predicament while considering the lives of Eve and Phyllis, whose futures are entangled with choices Harry has already made.

## Review

*The Bigamist* is good at making us consider a man we might reasonably have dismissed. Ida Lupino treats bigamy as something done by a recognisable person, capable of hurting others and feeling hurt himself. That approach gives the drama its interest, although her determination to be fair sometimes lends the husband’s excuses more weight than they deserve. We recommend it for the performances, with some reservations about how readily it asks us to sympathise.

Edmond O’Brien plays Harry Graham, a salesman whose predicament could easily become sordid or faintly ridiculous. He makes it credible, even when the story requires more belief than we can supply. We felt sorry for Harry, and were annoyed with ourselves for it. The performance makes his distress matter before we have finished considering what he has done to the women involved, and that discomfort holds our attention more firmly than the question of what happens next.

Joan Fontaine’s Eve Graham and Ida Lupino’s Phyllis Martin make it harder to settle comfortably into pity for Harry. Both performances give us reasons to consider the women beyond their relationship to the husband’s predicament. Directing herself, Ida Lupino avoids making Phyllis seem like the person we are being instructed to favour. Joan Fontaine makes Eve equally difficult to dismiss, however much attention Harry receives, and the strength of the casting keeps the film from becoming merely an exercise in hearing him out.

Collier Young’s screenplay is less secure in getting this situation before us. The framing story feels like an unnecessary precaution, as though Harry’s behaviour needs explaining before we can be trusted to consider it. Stanford Tischler’s editing keeps the 80-minute film manageable, but cannot make that frame feel essential. We would rather spend more of the running time attending to the three principal performances than to the arrangements through which their story is presented.

George E. Diskant’s cinematography gives the performances room to work without demanding admiration for itself. Our attention stays with the people, which is the right emphasis for a drama so dependent on how generously we are prepared to judge them. Leith Stevens’s music works well enough, though it contributes less to our response than the actors do. The presentation is effective chiefly because it leaves those performances as the main reason to keep watching.

The larger reservation concerns how far the director’s kindness goes. A serious domestic drama needs to allow us to dislike its central character, and occasionally the effort to understand Harry becomes too solicitous. His unhappiness deserves consideration, but so does his responsibility for the situation, and the writing does not always give the latter enough weight. This is where the film’s compassion begins to weaken its otherwise persuasive treatment of him.

Still, the seriousness is welcome, and the actors make even the less likely parts worth following. There is enough here to sustain disagreement about Harry without requiring us to pretend that his conduct is mysterious. For an evening of uncomfortable domestic drama, the performances justify tolerating the cumbersome frame and the occasional special pleading. We would watch it with someone prepared to be less forgiving of Harry than the director is.

*Fi1m score 74, published 25 September 2026.*

## Straight answers

**Is The Bigamist worth watching?**

*The Bigamist* is worth watching for its three persuasive central performances and uncomfortable domestic drama; we score it 74 out of 100. We recommend it for anyone interested in divided loyalties, though the cumbersome framing story and the director’s generosity towards Harry’s excuses make it less convincing than its actors.

**How long is The Bigamist, and what is it rated?**

*The Bigamist* runs 1h 20m. It is a drama and romance film.

**Where can I watch The Bigamist in Germany?**

*The Bigamist* is not on any streaming or rental service in Germany at the moment. It is available in 5 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How does The Bigamist compare to Brief Encounter?**

*The Bigamist* is the more useful choice for debating a husband’s responsibility to two women, while we recommend [*Brief Encounter*](https://film.one/film/brief-encounter) more strongly for its treatment of forbidden love and anxiety. Both take ordinary unhappiness seriously, but we find *The Bigamist* occasionally too forgiving of its central man; *Brief Encounter* gives its anxious heroine greater force, despite a less fully drawn male lead.

**What should I watch after The Bigamist?**

After *The Bigamist*, try [*Brief Encounter*](https://film.one/film/brief-encounter) (1945, Fi1m 90): For another account of forbidden attachment that takes ordinary unhappiness seriously. Then [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) (2011, Fi1m 93): Another domestic crisis in which understanding everyone makes judgement considerably harder; and [*Make Way for Tomorrow*](https://film.one/film/make-way-for-tomorrow) (1937, Fi1m 91): For the same patience with people whose needs become inconvenient.

### Reviews we read (3)

- **The AV Club**, John Krewson (90/100, inferred): The critic gives The Bigamist an emphatically positive verdict as part of a collection of Ida Lupino films. He especially praises the brilliant performances and Lupino’s compassionate portrayal of a morally flawed man. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-bigamist-1798196362)
- **Time Out**, TM (65/100, inferred): The review views the film as a sympathetic, effective problem picture, though not without reservations. It faults Lupino’s effort to avoid making the bigamous husband a whipping-boy for weakening the film’s treatment of him. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-bigamist)
- **Radio Times**, Tony Sloman (3/5): The review finds the story gritty and serious, though far-fetched. It praises Ida Lupino for making the salesman’s dilemma convincing, while faulting the framing story. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-4t84my/the-bigamist/)

## Details

- **Director:** Ida Lupino
- **Director:** Ida Lupino
- **Screenplay:** Collier Young
- **Story:** Lou Schor, Lawrence B. Marcus
- **Cinematography:** George E. Diskant
- **Editor:** Stanford Tischler
- **Music:** Leith Stevens
- **Producer:** Collier Young
- **Cast:** Joan Fontaine as Eve Graham; Ida Lupino as Phyllis Martin; Edmond O'Brien as Harry Graham / Harrison Graham; Edmund Gwenn as Mr. Jordan; Kenneth Tobey as Tom Morgan, Defense Attorney; Jane Darwell as Mrs. Connelley; Peggy Maley as Phone Operator; Lilian Fontaine as Miss Higgins, Landlady
- **Runtime:** 1h 20m
- **First release (the US):** 3 December 1953
- **Genres:** Drama, Romance

## Where to watch in Germany

Not streaming, renting or buying in Germany at the last check.

Also available in: AU, CA, FR, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Brief Encounter* (1945), Fi1m 90: For another account of forbidden attachment that takes ordinary unhappiness seriously. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/brief-encounter.md)
- *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Another domestic crisis in which understanding everyone makes judgement considerably harder. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md)
- *The Soft Skin* (1964): A less forgiving look at adultery, with every small evasion counting.
- *Make Way for Tomorrow* (1937), Fi1m 91: For the same patience with people whose needs become inconvenient. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/make-way-for-tomorrow.md)
- *45 Years* (2015), Fi1m 88: A marriage examined through performances that make quiet discoveries feel enormous. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/45-years.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-bigamist