The Bigamist

Decentering/City: Ida Lupino in front of and behind the camera: with stylistic assurance and a total lack of sentiment, she navigates her penultimate cinema film through the genre depths of melodrama and film noir, also bringing nuance to the role of “the other woman”: young waitress Phyllis Martin is the one married businessman Harry Graham falls in love with in Los Angeles while his wife (Joan Fontaine) follows their plans for adoption and her career as a businesswoman. When Phyllis gets pregnant, Harry sees no other option than to marry a second time to avoid hurting the feelings of one of the two women. In flashbacks, Lupino recapitulate the story of a love triangle of suffering.