Ida Lupino, born into a British show business dynasty, was as convincing as any foreign player at passing for American in movies. What's more, she got to direct seven features, unheard of for a woman in the late 1940s and '50s. The Bigamist was the last of consequence; probably the best is The Hitch-hiker of 1953.
The major problem with the movie under review is its title. If we didn't know this fact about Edmond O'Brien until it transpired in the plot, we would have had a lot more to bite on. So the extended play between O'Brien and Lupino (as actress) loses tension because we already know how it will play out. What's more, most of the story is told in flashback, which means that there is other information we carry right through the movie that we would have found more nourishing to gain later. It cries out to be told chronologically, with the arrival of Edmund Gwenn postponed until much later. And indeed the opening sequence in Gwenn's office is directed over-emphatically by Lupino, pointing us towards concerns about O'Brien's character.
A small issue but one that diminishes the film concerns the coy remarks, occurring in two separate scenes, about Miracle on 34th Street and Gwenn's role in it. Indeed, that O'Brien and Lupino meet on a studio tour bus interrupts the sequence with name-dropping to no useful purpose.
But I want to end positively. The acting is first rate - Joan Fontaine is especially good in what could easily have become a thankless role - and the willingness to tackle difficult material (including out-of-wedlock pregnancy) is wholly admirable.
The major problem with the movie under review is its title. If we didn't know this fact about Edmond O'Brien until it transpired in the plot, we would have had a lot more to bite on. So the extended play between O'Brien and Lupino (as actress) loses tension because we already know how it will play out. What's more, most of the story is told in flashback, which means that there is other information we carry right through the movie that we would have found more nourishing to gain later. It cries out to be told chronologically, with the arrival of Edmund Gwenn postponed until much later. And indeed the opening sequence in Gwenn's office is directed over-emphatically by Lupino, pointing us towards concerns about O'Brien's character.
A small issue but one that diminishes the film concerns the coy remarks, occurring in two separate scenes, about Miracle on 34th Street and Gwenn's role in it. Indeed, that O'Brien and Lupino meet on a studio tour bus interrupts the sequence with name-dropping to no useful purpose.
But I want to end positively. The acting is first rate - Joan Fontaine is especially good in what could easily have become a thankless role - and the willingness to tackle difficult material (including out-of-wedlock pregnancy) is wholly admirable.