This film is unique among production code era dramas in that everyone is painted in shades of gray. It is not unique among production code dramas in that it displays some very old fashioned ideas, primarily that a woman will go somewhat bonkers if she finds out she cannot have children, and a symptom of a married woman gone bonkers is for her to take a deep interest in big business.
In this film Eve Graham (Joan Fontaine) discovers about six years into her marriage to Harry Graham (Edmond OBrien) that she cannot have children. As a result she plunges herself into her husband's business and is always telling him that she trusts him completely while he is on the road in Los Angeles - something Harry actually takes as a bit of a rebuke. While on one of his many long business trips in L.A. Harry meets waitress Phyllis Martin (Ida Lupino). Harry intends just to keep it friendly between the two of them, but on the road and alone on his birthday things go too far and Phyllis becomes pregnant as a result. Phyllis is alone in the world, and having a rather difficult pregnancy, so Harry feels needed by her. He decides to call Eve, make a clean breast of it, and ask for a divorce so he can marry Phyllis. Unfortunately, the recent death of Eve's father has shocked her out of big business mode and the conversation Harry was going to have with Eve that was going to end it between them winds up being a conversation about adoption. So his new plan is this - marry Phyllis - who does not know Harry is already married - and stay married to Eve long enough for the adoption to go through because he doesn't want to leave Eve with nothing.
The film paints Harry as a sympathetic albeit a somewhat weak character. He is torn between the sweetheart of his youth and the mother of his child, who, unfortunately, are two different people. In more simplistic directorial production code era hands Phyllis would have conveniently died in childbirth after producing Harry the son he always wanted, Harry would have confessed all to Eve who would have forgiven him, and the two would have lived happily ever after raising Harry's biological child. In this film things don't work out that tidily and how Harry, society - and the wives for that matter -handle this situation and its complete resolution are left somewhat up in the air.
In this film Eve Graham (Joan Fontaine) discovers about six years into her marriage to Harry Graham (Edmond OBrien) that she cannot have children. As a result she plunges herself into her husband's business and is always telling him that she trusts him completely while he is on the road in Los Angeles - something Harry actually takes as a bit of a rebuke. While on one of his many long business trips in L.A. Harry meets waitress Phyllis Martin (Ida Lupino). Harry intends just to keep it friendly between the two of them, but on the road and alone on his birthday things go too far and Phyllis becomes pregnant as a result. Phyllis is alone in the world, and having a rather difficult pregnancy, so Harry feels needed by her. He decides to call Eve, make a clean breast of it, and ask for a divorce so he can marry Phyllis. Unfortunately, the recent death of Eve's father has shocked her out of big business mode and the conversation Harry was going to have with Eve that was going to end it between them winds up being a conversation about adoption. So his new plan is this - marry Phyllis - who does not know Harry is already married - and stay married to Eve long enough for the adoption to go through because he doesn't want to leave Eve with nothing.
The film paints Harry as a sympathetic albeit a somewhat weak character. He is torn between the sweetheart of his youth and the mother of his child, who, unfortunately, are two different people. In more simplistic directorial production code era hands Phyllis would have conveniently died in childbirth after producing Harry the son he always wanted, Harry would have confessed all to Eve who would have forgiven him, and the two would have lived happily ever after raising Harry's biological child. In this film things don't work out that tidily and how Harry, society - and the wives for that matter -handle this situation and its complete resolution are left somewhat up in the air.