tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post2338195878986882569..comments2024-02-05T21:23:49.249-08:00Comments on Lady Eve's Reel Life: For the Love of Film (Noir): About Ida LupinoThe Lady Evehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-43800065439552218332011-02-24T00:00:18.778-08:002011-02-24T00:00:18.778-08:00Good to hear from you, Becky and Dawn. I'll be...Good to hear from you, Becky and Dawn. I'll be watching Ida gain soon. Most interested to compare her "They Drive By Night" with BD's "Bordertown." One of Ida's that I've seen only once is "Junior Bonner," and I'd like to take another look. I read that both Ida and Steve were bemused that she, only 12 yrs older than he, was to play his mother...The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-64457176923968054142011-02-23T14:30:18.739-08:002011-02-23T14:30:18.739-08:00Eve, I really enjoyed reading your terrific review...Eve, I really enjoyed reading your terrific review. What a talented woman Ida Lupino was. I was very impressed to learn while I was writing her bio, that she was also a director. Amazing.. <br /><br />I loved her performances in the films: 1940 They Drive by Night, 1941 High Sierra, Escape Me Never and 1972 Junior Bonner.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03476174860119487509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-25944304619194031892011-02-22T18:17:16.439-08:002011-02-22T18:17:16.439-08:00Eve, I've been so busy I am late commenting on...Eve, I've been so busy I am late commenting on your excellent review of Ida Lupino's remarkable career. As an actress, she was luminous in roles like High Sierra, Devotion, The Hard Way and Beware My Lovely. I have not seen some of the films you disucss, and would like to very much. I think High Sierra stands out for me -- she more than held her own with Bogart. She was just wonderful. I love Devotion, a very romanticized version of the Bronte sisters' lives, but a lovely atmospheric movie with Ida out-shining everyone as Emily.<br /><br />Even with all that to her credit, women everywhere owe her a debt of gratitude for opening up the role of the woman director. She is just an admirable person, and one of my favorite women.<br /><br />Thanks for a very informative and interesting article about remarkable Ida!ClassicBeckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591715859057540467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-90786019659009647642011-02-21T20:10:08.083-08:002011-02-21T20:10:08.083-08:00Hello Jean...love your blog & am following you...Hello Jean...love your blog & am following you on Twitter now. Would be very happy if you'd promote this post at your blog.<br />How interesting (and unfortunate, it's a fascinating story) that the legend about Ida's selection for "Her First Affaire" is just a tale. I trusted the source as it had appeared in print, a respected classic film journal.<br />Thanks for stopping by!The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-29461350297156602182011-02-21T19:52:35.546-08:002011-02-21T19:52:35.546-08:00What a fabulous entry! Ida was terrific in all the...What a fabulous entry! Ida was terrific in all the films you mentioned; such a talented actress, and a very talented director, too. I love the films she directed, particularly The Bigamist. However, that bit about Ida being chosen for the lead role in Her First Affaire actually isn't true--I know you read that everywhere, but it's just a rumor that's been circulating for years. Would you mind if I promote this post over at my blog?Jean Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02946708463034019345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-48851653470477878872011-02-21T17:37:05.768-08:002011-02-21T17:37:05.768-08:00So good that so many admirers are chiming in with ...So good that so many admirers are chiming in with comments on Ida Lupino...<br />I just ordered "Bordertown" and "They Drive By Night" from one of my libraries - didn't realize the two films were related and want to see them back-to-back. Also ordered "The Man I Love." <br />Bette Davis is my all-time favorite, too, R.D., and I didn't realize until researching for this post that her stature at Warners was an obstacle to Ida Lupino's career there. Ida was quoted as saying that Jack Warner once told her to just wait, when Davis got older (she was 10 yrs. older than Lupino), Ida would get the plum roles. She realized, of course, the same would apply to her one day. A smart woman all the way around.<br />I was planning to blog on "Moontide" (1942) but not enough time. For those interested, it's definitely worth watching, though it has its weak points. Fritz Lang began the film and Archie Mayo finished it - starred Lupino and Jean Gabin, with two character actors of Olympian heights, Thomas Mitchell and Claude Rains. Very interesting backstory (via nice documentary with 2008 DVD). Plus legendary blackout sequence designed by Salvador Dali...The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-28698369236260953972011-02-21T16:01:50.734-08:002011-02-21T16:01:50.734-08:00Lady Eve, you have written a graceful tribute to a...Lady Eve, you have written a graceful tribute to a graceful lady. One of many reasons why I admire Ida Lupino is a career that spanned decades, in films and television, as actress and director. My first introduction to her work was most likely DEVOTION during my “all things Bronte” phase. I gradually discovered many of her other films that became favorites including THE HARD WAY and ROAD HOUSE. Her role as a torch singer is nicely rounded-out by Celeste Holm’s comment, “She does more with nothing than anyone I’ve ever heard.” I agree with R.D. regarding a preference for Ida in THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT over Bette in BORDERTOWN; Ida’s choices for the character resulted in a subtler performance.whistlingypsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06126688373252306609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-6387367828958786172011-02-21T15:15:07.749-08:002011-02-21T15:15:07.749-08:00thank GOD someone mentioned THE MAN I LOVE...or I ...thank GOD someone mentioned THE MAN I LOVE...or I was gonna scream...I too grew up with IDA...from her early films...the NOIRS...Television...am a huge fan...thanx EVE!!!doctor sabelotodohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17753057330165133638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-43766938049336321672011-02-21T14:58:14.030-08:002011-02-21T14:58:14.030-08:00Eve, a great post on my #1 neglected actress of th...Eve, a great post on my #1 neglected actress of the forties. I absolutely agree with you about her performance in "Road House" being so great--my personal favorite of her many fine performances. I had known of her for years, but this was the performance that really brought her to my attention. Another great performance of that era is in "The Man I Love," a noirish musical directed by Raoul Walsh in which she also plays a night club singer and sings (actually, I think her voice was dubbed) two fantastic songs: the title song by the Gershwins and Jerome Kern's "Why Was I Born?" This is the musical Martin Scorsese says inspired "New York, New York." Another great performance from earlier in the forties is in "Ladies in Retirement," a Hitchcock-like shocker that costars Elsa Lanchester and Louis Hayward.<br /><br />About "They Drive by Night." This was a semi-remake of "Bordertown," and she took the role Bette Davis played in the original. As much as I love Davis (my favorite film actress of all time), I think Lupino did the better job, especially in her big courtroom meltdown scene, which is far more nuanced than Davis's version.<br /><br />By the way, after they divorced, Collier Young married Joan Fontaine, and they were married at the time Lupino directed and costarred with her in "The Bigamist," which Young produced. If you've read Fontaine's autobiography, you know she has few kind words for anyone, but apparently she and Lupino were great friends. I guess one big ego recognized and respected another. I got the same impression about her and Lucy from the "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" episode Brandie mentions.<br /><br />She had a couple of good roles in the fifties for noir directors Robert Aldrich in "The Big Knife," in which she looks sensational, and Fritz Lang in "While the City Sleeps."<br /><br />I just saw "The Love Parade" the other night and finally got to see her father (whom she idolized), who's usually described as a diminutive acrobatic music hall singer-comedian. He was! Thanks for bringing attention to a neglected actress and film noir mainstay (even though she isn't often thought of in this way) who certainly deserves it.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-8722969949578913022011-02-21T14:04:29.476-08:002011-02-21T14:04:29.476-08:00I was first introduced to Ida Lupino in the I Love...I was first introduced to Ida Lupino in the I Love Lucy episode she starred in with Duff. I was a teenager and had no idea who she was at the time! Not long after, I saw High Sierra and thought she looked familiar--I didn't make the connection at first. I had no idea she was also one of the rare female directors in classic Hollywood until years later. She was just brilliant all around.<br /><br />And this post reminds me that I am dying to see The Hard Way--it's been on my "must-watch" list for a while now.Brandiehttp://trueclassics.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-71870811244785826592011-02-21T12:47:51.307-08:002011-02-21T12:47:51.307-08:00Hi Ginger...I have read in several places that &qu...Hi Ginger...I have read in several places that "The Hard Way" was based at least in part on the relationships of Ginger Rogers - with her mother and with with Jack Pepper. That's really all I know about it (here's a brief reference, scroll down: http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/12/02/stage-moms-movies/). Thanks for letting me know about Discovering Ida...<br />John - I'm not surprised at all to find out you are a big Ida Lupino fan. She's been high on my list since those b&w TV days. Just recently saw "Moontide" for the first time (couldn't resist the draw of Lupino/Gabin). Also watched "On Dangerous Ground" again. Can't get enough Ida Lupino these days.<br />In Aug/Sept. 2010, NYC's MOMA presented a program of Lupino films, "Mother Directs"...Ida more than deserved the honor.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-10363058248204688452011-02-21T11:54:20.375-08:002011-02-21T11:54:20.375-08:00A great look at a wonderful actress and director. ...A great look at a wonderful actress and director. Along with Stanwyck and Joan Blondell, Ida Lupino is one of my favorites. For me, it was “High Sierra” and “They Drive by Night” where I first noticed Lupino so many years ago. The films were staples on one of the local stations on a Sunday afternoon. You captured her perfectly in describing her screen persona as “tough and tender.” She was terrific in “On Dangerous Ground,” “Beware, My Lovely,” “Road House,” “The Sea Wolf,” “The Hard Way” and “Out of the Fog” just to name a few.<br /><br />In “Women’s Prison” she hams it up playing the archetypical despicable warden. Not a great film but a fun one.<br /><br /> Her direction of “The Hitch-hiker” shows she can handle the gritty world of noir from behind the camera as well.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-23477187029826253972011-02-21T11:34:57.675-08:002011-02-21T11:34:57.675-08:00Over at Jean Howard's blog, Discovering Ida, w...Over at Jean Howard's blog, Discovering Ida, which is basically all about Ida Lupino, she told me that she thought," The Hard Way" was based upon Ginger's relationship with Jack Pepper. It's not mentioned in her autobiography, but do you know anything about it yourself?<br /><br />This was a great read, and I look forward to reading more!PinkGingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03387466728454882837noreply@blogger.com