The Man with Three Wives

This is one of those TV movies I hesitate to admit I tuned into, as it seems a bit voyeuristic, peeping at the painful experiences of other people for entertainment. However, this tawdry fact based tale proved quite engrossing, I must say.

It chronicles the true story of a competent & really quite likable physician, Dr. Norman Grayson, who juggles, yes, three wives. Of course trying to divide his time between the three of them, keep the personal & social whirl sorted out, deal with the financial mix ups, and prevent each from learning about the other two...all prove something of a challenge for the good doctor. Two of the wives live in the same community, and Grayson fakes hospital emergencies so he can spend time with both of them in one night! He copes when there's only two wives (only?), but marrying the third complicates and stresses his life just a little too much.

Beau Bridges portrays Norman Grayson, and he's such an affable actor that it proved difficult not to be a tad sympathetic toward this selfish polygamist who deceives in the worst possible way everyone he claims to love. (I'm sure had I been one of the wives, my sympathy would have been quite limited!) Kathleen Lloyd plays his first wife, Lillian, the mother of his three adult children. Joanna Kerns is businesswoman wife, Katy, the daughter of Grayson's physician colleague & friend. Pam Dawber (one of my favourites from Mork and Mindy days) is the newcomer wife, Robyn, the first one sharp enough to suspect that something's not quite right here.

Of course what's amazing is that this is all a true story. As one reviewer cleverly worded it, truth is definitely stranger than fiction!

A doctor charms and marries three different women. The problem is, he doesn't bother to divorce one before he marries the next. Beau Bridges is perfectly smarmy as a bigamist who juggles his time between the women. The doctor employs an arsenal of trickery and creates a landfill of lies. There are several scenes where the doctor has to do some quick thinking in order not to get caught. This is based on a true story; in real life, the wives ended up suing each other to get possession of property and money the man had.

Then beginning and end of this movie depict what everyone who has not lived through this, expected to be the outcome. The fact that a man could carry this three way deception for so long makes the story interesting. No movie minutes are wasted in the telling of this tale and getting across many messages in as few scenes as possible. The doctor has many needs and much to give. He can give much because he has his needs met in so many ways by so many people. He feeds them and they feed him. But the balance is always precarious and keeping it all balanced it what brings down the house that is not a house of cards but a house of emotions and needs that cannot be sustained over a long period of time. As time takes it's toll the need for further deceptions and lies are needed to keep the original lies flowing. Addiction is the root but it is a good intenstioned addiction that fuels this man and his wives. Rollercoaster rides only last a few minutes for a reason. No one can live with the adrenalin flowing constantly and eventually the other side will come in to offset the high. The movie depicted the long term ride that the doctor took and gave it the adhesive necessary to make one see how it could happen. And it showed the downside effects that were experienced by all of the players who were not running the show. They all got part of what they wanted and contributed to something but in the end no one was satisfied. The human heart may want to fulfill it's needs by attending to the needs of many and be fed by the love of many but in the end the deception led to the early demise of the one who loved too much and left big holes to fill for those who were left behind to deal with the debris.

This is an interesting TV movie that I saw, naturally, on Lifetime. What's most interesting about it is that it is based on a true story. What's even more interesting to me is that there are probably a lot of stories out there similar to this one.

The subject is big-time bigamy by a doctor who apparently loves all three women he's married to. Like most who deceive, he expends a lot of time and energy moving from place to place, covering up, and not getting caught. It's a tough job, and he's got to do it.

The cast is a very good one - Beau Bridges, Pam Dawber, Joanna Kerns, Kathleen Lloyd. Dawber is the smart one who figures out there might be a problem. There sure is. Bridges is successful as a caring doctor who loves a bit too much.

I'd give this film 7* - 2 for drama, but 5 for the fascination of watching Beau Bridges' character.

I may have caught it at a bad time, since I did get so engrossed in watching Beau scurrying about and having to maintain so many stories, checkbooks - and wives - that I couldn't dredge up as much sympathy as others seem to have had.

Not only did he have the problem of eating multiple dinners (I'll bet he carried a giant container of Tagamet or Tums), celebrating multiple holiday festivities, creating multiple excuses and falsehoods - PLUS! for heaven's sake, this man had a job as a physician which caused him to get up in the middle of the night to visit sick patients, to boot!!!

I guess it's one thing where some persons engage in seemingly endless "one-night stands," and extremely short-term liaisons.

But watching Beau with all the juggling of things the character had to execute, I couldn't help but imagine even Wilt Chamberlain or that lead singer from "Kiss" who has mentioned his prodigious romantic conquests -- together -- couldn't have accomplished what Beau did with these three separate women, all decidedly over the "long-term."

Finally, I guess if you really stretch your imagination, you can see where a series of events, travel, schedule, etc., could result in a man impetuously marrying a second woman while still in a complete, family relationship with the first. But -- anybody who would opt for a third is deserving of whatever problems he has to bear juggling everything, as well as the dire consequences which result when everything finally unravels.