From the early 1930s through late 1970s, multi-talented British-born Ida Lupino acted onscreen and on television here in the U.S. She was at her best playing strong-willed, neurotic and cynical (but occasionally vulnerable) heroines in such films as HIGH SIERRA and THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, both with Humphrey Bogart; THE LIGHT THAT FAILED, with Ronald Colman; and THE SEA WOLF, with Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield. And she is cast to perfection in ROAD HOUSE, released in 1948, which recently came to home entertainment from Kino Lorber.
In ROAD HOUSE, Lupino plays Lily Stevens, a sultry, well-travelled torch singer-piano player who is the new entertainer at the title locale, a rural nightspot. Here, she attracts two very different men: a hunky nice guy, played by Cornel Wilde, and her slimy boss, played by Richard Widmark at his sniveling early-career best.
Back when ROAD HOUSE was released, women in Hollywood movies were depicted as fragile souls who would shed tears at the slightest provocation, or scream at the slightest hint of danger, or stand around passively with their hands covering their faces while the hero and villain slugged it out. But Lupino-as-Lily is different, and she is refreshing. She is tough-as-nails, smart-mouthed, and no-nonsense; in other words, she is no passive pre-feminist heroine. But as her character opens up, ROAD HOUSE also touches on the topic of loneliness: an emotion that is all-too-familiar to too many of the world’s lost souls.
These days, Ida Lupino is best-remembered not for her performances in front of the camera but for her work behind it. In the late 1940s, she formed The Filmmakers, her own independent production company, with her then-husband, Collier Young. This was not unusual at the time, as the Hollywood studio system as it had existed for years was about to begin fading into the sunset. Actors no longer would have the security of seven-year contracts, and quite a few already had established their own production houses.
The Filmmakers set out to make socially conscious movies. This too was not uncommon during the immediate post-World War II years. Before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings and subsequent blacklist transformed Hollywood into a community of timid souls, movies were beginning to deal with such touchy subjects as race relations, anti-Semitism, and mental illness. But the subjects chosen by The Filmmakers were controversial even when compared to the subjects explored in these other films.
One was out-of-wedlock pregnancy, the dilemma faced by the heroine in NOT WANTED, from 1949, which Lupino coproduced and coscripted. NOT WANTED was to be directed by veteran Elmer Clifton. But three days into shooting, Clifton suffered a heart attack and, as a result, Lupino took over as director. Over the next four years, she helmed five additional features for The Filmmakers.
At the time, Ida Lupino was just about the lone woman moviemaker working in the American film industry. And all these decades later, she deserves to be remembered and celebrated not just for her acting-- and certainly, her presence and performance in ROAD HOUSE are well-worth discovering-- but for being a behind-the-camera film industry pioneer.
Rob Edelman has authored or edited several dozen books on film, television, and baseball. He has taught film history courses at several universities and his writing has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, and journals. His frequent collaborator is his wife, fellow WAMC film commentator Audrey Kupferberg.
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