Ida Lupino, Filmmaker

Ida Lupino, Filmmaker begins with an exploration of biographical studies and analytical treatments of Lupino’s film and television work as director, moving forward to assess Lupino’s career in film and television with particular attention given to Lupino’s singular, pioneering achievements and her role(s) within the cultural milieu(s) of her time, particularly the representation of women in cinema. Each chapter includes a close analysis of the film or television work with insights drawn from film history and cultural/gender studies to demonstrate that Lupino was a significant directorial figure in the development of film, especially in the late 1940s and early 1950s—and in television extending well into the 1960s. Lupino left her imprint on filmmaking and her canon of film and television work continue to influence Hollywood movie making.The contributors to this volume assess Lupino’s main strengths as a filmmaker—her treatment of narrative movement, plotting, dialogue, gender roles, and uses of tradition representations of men and women in frames of parody and satire. The book collectively examines the successes (and failures) of Lupino’s directorial career, including focusing on the reasons why she initially proved to be so strategic to the progress of women behind the camera.

This book is an extremely timely and much-needed addition to the growing corpus of works on female filmmakers. A most welcome intervention in the scholarship on Ida Lupino, female directors, Hollywood history and Hollywood gender politics, In a more just world, Ida Lupino would be properly recognized as a creative icon and giant in film and television history. Thankfully, Phillip Sipiora and a talented group of film historians, writers, and critics have brought her (and her work) to life in Ida Lupino, Filmmaker. This book masterfully bares Lupino’s epic, four-decade career as actor, writer, director, and producer. Filled with context, deep research, and strong analysis, Ida Lupino, Filmmaker is a foundational text that lays out a new path for film and television history.

Phillip Sipiora is Professor of English and Film Studies at the University of South Florida, USA, where he has taught since earning his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or editor of five books and has published approximately four dozen scholarly essays. He has lectured nationally and internationally on 20th-century literature and film and is the founding editor of The Mailer Review. He has published essays on the films of Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Edgar Ulmer, Joseph H. Lewis, Robert Wiene, Ida Lupino, and Norman Mailer.