Bígamo a Força

Marcello Mastroianni is a happily married travelling business man, who is in for a surprise when he comes home from one of his local business trips, being charged with bigamy. The problem is he does not know who this previously married supposed wife of his is, having never seen her before in all his life. She insists on having been married to him seven years ago, whereupon he disappeared after a few days to buy some cigarettes but never returned. This sends shock waves through all his family, who don't believe his assertions, as he has been known for his business tricks, and who demand that his wife leave him with their son. Vittorio de Sica comes to the rescue and gives a performance at court which alone makes the film worth while. There are great scenes at court, all families and relatives being passionately engaged, while the chief value of the film is to see Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio de Sica act together. De Sica's role as the advocate is the greatest fun of all, as he makes a great Italian drama out of it in flamboyant eloquence. As the problem finally is pinned down to a simple confusion, all's well and ends well. It's a very Italian comedy from beginning to end.

"The Bigamist" was a 1956 Italian release not to be confused with the better known 1953 Joan Fontaine title directed by Ida Lupino, first issued theatrically as "A Plea for Passion." "Il Bigamo" stars Marcello Mastroianni as Mario De Santis, traveling salesman for dental products, who returns home from his usual long distance rounds to his wife Valeria (Giovanna Ralli) and year old son Tonino, only to be called to the police station for questioning. A woman named Isolina Fornaciari (Franca Valeri) has made a sworn statement that she was married to Mario exactly seven years earlier, having spent three days together before he went out to buy cigarettes, never to return. Mario is adamant that he has never even seen the woman before, while the authorities are convinced that he's guilty of bigamy. Valeria still loves her husband, but is torn by her family's persuasion that she have nothing more to do with him, while his only hope seems to lie with his expert defense counsel (Vittorio De Sica), who insists that his client plead guilty to receive a lighter sentence. The flamboyant De Sica is as usual a constant delight, the hard working Mastroianni battered around from beginning to end, the eye of the hurricane. An unusual title to be shown on Pittsburgh's long running Chiller Theater, during a seven month period when many such Italian comedies were shown, the first feature on Dec 27 1969, followed by more typical horror fare, 1957's "The Man Without a Body." Other Mastroianni titles that popped up on the show include "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," "Marriage Italian Style," "Casanova 70," and the truly sci fi "The Tenth Victim." Long unseen for many years, "Il Bigamo" finally received a 2014 DVD release from Video Dimensions, in Italian with English subtitles.