 She was said to be as rigid and tough-minded as Bette Davis and often refused to play a Davis “hand-me-down role,” writes biographer Troy Fontana of the glamorous Ida Lupino, actress, and director. Lupino’s refusal to take those parts frequently led to a suspension by Warner Brothers, the studio to which she was contracted. During those suspensions, Fontana says, “she learned the craft of directing.” Today, Lupino’s remarkable and prolific directing career has been largely forgotten. But co-directors and producers Julia and Clara Kuperberg, who are sisters, have brought Lupiono back to the forefront in their new 53-minute documentary: “Ida Lupino: Gentlemen and Miss Lupino.” CASCADIA is presenting the film to celebrate “Women’s History Month” with a special online screening starting Friday, March 11 through Sunday, March 20. Watch the trailer here. Subjects Hollywood Wouldn’t Touch As Lupino biographer Julie Grossman says: Lupino’s “really remarkable contribution to the history of film television and media is the directing work that she did in the post-war period… she made films that mainstream Hollywood would not touch films about social problems, social themes, social issues…” The Kuperbergs chronicle Lupino’s career as a director and the challenges she confronted as the only woman directing in the post-War era. “She was a film, television and media trailblazer. She did things that no other woman was doing at the time,:” Grossman, says. Buy your ticket, $10, for the online screening here. |
CASCADIA Celebrates Ida Lupino’s Directing Career With Documentary March 11-20
