The Bigamist 1956

Mario De Santis, an enterprising toothpaste salesman, is married to Valeria Masetti, and he expects a straightforward life. That expectation is upended when he is accused of bigamy, a charge that drags him into a tense legal ordeal and puts his reputation on the line.

At the police station, he is confronted with Isolina Fornaciari, a woman who asserts that they would have been married in Forlimpopoli years earlier, a claim that shakes his sense of certainty and loyalty. The accusation cascades through his world, casting doubt on his innocence in the eyes of many, including his wife, who is influenced by her sister and the family lawyer.

After guards finally grant him bail, the case is entrusted to a distinctly eccentric and talkative figure, the Honorable Prince of the forum, whose flamboyant persona becomes a curious catalyst in the courtroom drama. The strange new ally raises questions and adds an air of farce to the mounting tension as the truth begins to bend under pressure.

A friend of Mario’s, Quirino Proietti, whom he meets in prison, realizes that this may hinge on a case of mistaken identity and sets off to track down Isolina’s real husband, roaming across Rome in a determined search. The quest takes on a comic-but-serious pace as the city becomes a backdrop for the pursuit of clarity amid chaos.

When the pursuer finds the man in question, he brings him to court, where Mario—acting on the advice of his defender—pleads guilty in a strategic pivot intended to navigate the legal maze. The proceedings reveal a twist: the court, while clearing Mario of bigamy, convicts him of self-malignancy, and Isolina, described as an elderly single woman who had exploited the circumstance to try to trap a handsome man, is condemned for perjury. The verdict unsettles everyone and reframes the stakes of the case.

Having served a small sentence, Mario is finally able to return to his family, who are waiting for him at the prison exit. The film closes on a note of cautious reconciliation, with the once-fractured household coming back together and the notion of truth, loyalty, and the quirks of the law lingering in the air.