81. The Bigamist (1953)

A rather strange sort of melodrama. Edmond O Brien stars as Harry Graham, a freezer salesman from San Francisco who is trying to adopt a child with his wife and business partner Eve (Joan Fontaine.) In the vetting process, the head of the adoption agency, Mr. Jordan, uncovers Harry's dual life in LA where he also has a wife and a son to boot. The film is Harry explaining to Mr. Jordan how he came to be in such a predicament.

The melodrama is at full pelt here, but for such a mix of damaged characters, you start to empathise with all of them. Ida Lupino stars as his LA wife Phyllis, but also directs the film. She was known as a poor man's Bette Davis and when the new wave of young starlets came into the studio system, she decided to step behind the camera and also write roles for herself. Good for her.

The film culminates in a courtroom scene with the conclusion of how it will all pan out left up in the air with a series of silent expressions that tell a wealth more than the script ever could.

It's a film that does well with the empathy, but though perfect Sunday afternoon viewing, I am not sure it quite belongs on this list.