Ida Lupino on the set of NEVER FEAR (THE YOUNG LOVERS), Los Angeles, 1949 (photo courtesy the Estate of Ida Lupino)
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
August 26 – September 20
Tickets: $10, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within
thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
London-born actress Ida Lupino was more than just the glamorous Hollywood star of such films as THE GAY DESPERADO, THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1939), THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, and HIGH SIERRA. She was also a pioneering woman in a male-dominated industry, forming an independent production company and writing, producing, and directing feature films and television shows through much of the 1950s and 1960s. Lupino, who called herself “Mother” while on set, explored such topics as rape, bigamy, and violence in her films, usually focusing on strong female characters. MoMA is honoring her diverse cinematic career with Mother Directs, a month-long series consisting of fourteen films that Lupino either starred in, produced, wrote, and/or directed, including 1940’s THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, 1950’s NEVER FEAR and OUTRAGE, 1952’s BEWARE MY LOVELY, 1954’s PRIVATE HELL 36, and her directorial swan song, 1966’s THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELS. Lupino, who was never nominated for an Oscar or an Emmy, spent the 1970s making guest appearances on such TV shows as FAMILY AFFAIR, BARNABY JONES, POLICE WOMAN, COLUMBO, and CHARLIE’S ANGELS; she retired in 1978 and died in Los Angeles in 1995 at the age of seventy-seven.