DVD Review: The Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection
Kino Lorber has released four important features directed by Ida Lupino in its continued respect for cinema's rich history and the importance of women filmmakers. The four films that Kino offers in their collection are strong examples of Ms. Lupino's vision as a filmmaker. They include her first, "Not Wanted" (taking over for an ailing Elmer Clifton, who gets screen credit), "Never Fear," "The Bigamist," and her masterpiece, "The Hitch Hiker."
Lupino was from a theatrical family and had fully established herself as an actress in movies like "They Drive By Night," "Deep Valley," and "High Sierra" before embarking on her directorial career. She would state in later interviews that, as an actress, she sit around on the set between takes, dying of boredom, and watching the filmmakers keeping busy and doing, what she believed, was the more interesting work.
With her then-husband Collier Young, she formed the company Filmmakers, Inc, to produce movies of vision and substance. Lupino's films dealt with issues that were considered edgy and controversial during the immediate post-war era. "Not Wanted" confronts single parenthood. "Never Fear" deals with the issue of polio and a woman's determination to overcome its obstacles. "The Hitch-Hiker" deals with the psychology of a serial killer, the bond of friendship, as well as humiliation and emasculation. "The Bigamist" is about -- well -- its title. Here are separate capsule reviews of each film in the set:
NOT WANTED (1949)
Although she is not credited as director, Ida Lupino did take over direction on this project which she co-wrote and co-produced. Thus it is the first of her auteurist achievements in cinema. The film opens with a dazed young woman (Sally Forrest) wandering aimlessly, the lifting a baby from its buggy and walking off, insisting it is hers. When she is arrested and imprisoned, she looks back on her life and how she ended up at this point. In flashback, we see how she falls for a hotshot jazz pianist (Leo Penn, Sean's dad) loses her virginity to him, and ends up pregnant. Giving up her child for adoption, her attempt to kidnap the baby was a subconscious desire to experience the motherhood she has denied herself. Lupino conveys Forrest's emotional immaturity with a series of deep closeups, while a hospital sequence shows some inspiration from German Expressionist cinema. Keefe Brasselle is noteworthy as the good guy Sally turns down, while Dorothy Adams offers a chilling portrayal of an emotionally abusive mother.
NEVER FEAR (1949)
The polio academic was the focal point of this searing drama, once again featuring Sally Forrest and Keefe Brasselle. Sally plays Carol Williams, a dancer who contracts polio. Brasselle is her dance partner who supports her during her illness. Hugh O'Brien, in his film debut, is an inspirational patient who has triumphed over the disease. The subject matter was close to Lupino's heart in that she herself suffered from polio back in the 1930s and admitted to having the same sort of dark thoughts as the Forrest character in this movie. Ironically, an injury forced Lupino to direct this film from a wheelchair, perhaps allowing for an even more passionate connection to the central character.
THE HITCH-HIKER (1953)
After focusing on female characters for her first several efforts, Lupino then directed an all-male cast in "The Hitch-Hiker," which continues to be her best film. Working independently with a very low budget, Lupino overcomes all of the basic challenges of these parameters. The story deals with two fisherman buddies who pick up a hitch-hiker who turns out to be a serial killer. He forces the two friends at gunpoint to endure a series of humiliating and violent episodes while mocking their devoted friendship. This deeply disturbing film is both brilliantly acted and directed, Lupino approaching the unsettling material with assuredness in her choice of shots, and an artistic use of light and dark. Edmund O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman star.
THE BIGAMIST (1953)
Ida Lupino directs herself opposite Joan Fontaine in a film written by Collier Young, who had been Lupino's husband and was now married to Fontaine. Some convincingly argue that it is "The Bigamist" that is Lupino's directorial masterpiece, even surpassing "The Hitch-Hiker." Fontaine and Edmund O'Brien play a married couple who want to adopt a child. Edmund Gwenn is an adoption agency official who must investigate the couple in order to approve them for a baby. As he does so, he discovers a lot of puzzling and disturbing mysteries about the husband. The deeper he looks, the worse it seems to be. Of course the title is revealing as to just what the problem is, with Ida Lupino playing the other woman.
Each of the films in this set is exceptional, especially the latter two. And all of them benefit from engrossing, enlightening commentary. Barbara Scharres of the Gene Siskel Film Center and Filmmaker/Historian Greg Ford provide interesting commentary for "Not Wanted." Film historian and scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas offers fascinating commentary for "Never Fear." The always magnificent historian/scholar Imogen Sara Smith presents her typically informative commentary for "The Hitch-Hiker." And Diabolique's brilliant film expert Kat Ellinger is outstanding as usual when offering commentary for "The Bigamist."
There is also a wonderfully illuminating booklet by Ronnie Scheib included in the set.
These films are important aesthetically and historically for several reasons and thus, the box set "Ida Lupino: Filmmaker Collection" is highly recommended to libraries, research centers, and anyone interested in the cinema's rich history.
The set is available here: Ida Lupino: Filmmakers Series