All About Harry

Attitudes have thankfully changed with time so forms of racism, sexism, and homophobia have reduced, if not disappeared completely. One clear indication of attitudes changing is via film and the traditionally ‘liberal’ Hollywood; they care less about your colour or sexual orientation and more about your money. However, despite their slightly more liberal attitude, many films of the Golden Era are still slightly distasteful to modern audiences, one such film could be ‘The Bigamist’, a film about Harry Graham a seemingly kind man who finds himself trapped between two loves and marrying them both.

Directed by star Ida Lupino, ‘The Bigamist’ should really have a female perspective on the situation. Lupino plays Phyllis a lonely waitress who meets a travelling salesman at his lowest ebb. They fall in together and when she becomes pregnant he agrees to marry her, but never builds up the courage to divorce his other wife (Eve). Lupino and the producers of the film try to paint Harry as a decent man who made a mistake – however, when that mistake involves taking off your pants, it is difficult to sympathise with someone. Harry is given far too much benefit of the doubt in the film and the two female leads are weak and allow themselves to be manipulated. The entire film patronises woman and this may have been ok in 1953, but in 2011 it’s a little depressing, especially if this is the liberalised viewpoint of a female director. I shudder to think what ‘real life’ was like.

‘The Bigamist’ hits too many bum notes to work and relies on sympathy from the audience that just does not exist. One to avoid, except for social historians looking into relationships of the 20th century in film.