WOMAN IN HIDING: Blu-ray (Universal, 1949) Kino Lorber

If only the rest of director, Michael Gordon’s Woman in Hiding (1949) was as white-knuckled and gripping as its kick-starter – a car, careening through a fence and plunging headlong into a river, we might have been treated to a superb ‘little gem’ from the noir class of picture-making. Alas – no; the extended flashback that follows is a dark, but otherwise turgid affair that pits one of filmdom’s true trail-blazers – Ida Lupino – in a kooky, and occasionally clumsy series of domestic entanglements that only a sadomasochistic frump could appreciate, scratching at her poker face with dishpan hands.  Props first: to Lupino who, in a career of 48 years, carved a niche as one of the most prolific women in the biz. Lupino, who could drink most men under the table, usually did – and – looked it too by 1949, would have an even more lucrative tenure behind the camera, directing, co-writing and co-producing ‘message’ pictures for her own indie production company, including The Hitch-hiker (1953) – the first noir made by a woman. She directed 8 more features, more than 100 TV episodes, spanning every conceivable genre, and, by 1948, was a naturalized citizen of the U.S. Lupino had everything a blue chip actress ought to succeed; smarts, sass and guts – a real ‘bull by the horns’ kind’a gal who, by 1934 had made her first appearance in both the movies and on the stage. Technically, Paramount discovered ‘the English Harlow’ in 1933, landing a lucrative 5-year contract, capped off by The Light That Failed (1939), in which she dubbed herself ‘the poor man's Bette Davis’, making the most of movie roles Davis had actually refused.

Warner Bros. associate producer, Mark Hellinger hired her for They Drive by Night (1940). Despite a trio of heavy-hitting headliners - George Raft, Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart - Lupino stole the show. Warner’s offered her a contract, and thereafter she was used to great effect in High Sierra (1941), The Hard Way (1943) and Pillow to Post (1945) – a rare comedic turn. Frequent confrontations with her boss, Jack Warner, led to chronic suspensions that extended her absence from the screen. Yet, despite her popularity with audiences, neither the studio nor Lupino opted to continue their alliance after 1947. A move to 2oth Century-Fox and her appearance in Road House, and later, at RKO, On Dangerous Ground (1951) likely paved the way for Lupino’s interests to step behind the camera. Even more ironically, she was never to become a major star. Undaunted, she formed ‘The Filmakers’ with hubby, Collier Young; getting her first chance to direct after Elmer Clifton suffered a heart attack and could not finish 1949’s Not Wanted – a movie about out-of-wedlock pregnancy Lupino co-produced and co-wrote. Taking no directorial credit, out of respect for Clifton, Lupino’s directorial debut was officially marked by Never Fear (1949), and followed by Outrage (1950), a film about rape, and then, The Hitch-Hiker (1953). In all, The Filmakers produced 12 features, 6 directed, co-directed, written or co-written by Lupino, and 3 in which she also appeared in a leading role.

As a director, Lupino’s ‘style’ could effectively be called skinflint. Indeed, she dubbed herself, ‘the poor man’s Don Siegel’; cleverly reusing sets from other productions, shooting in public places to avoid set-rental costs, casting friends – even her dentist – as extras and effectively using product placement. By 1955, Lupino had all but retired from theatrical picture-making, her last directorial credit on The Trouble with Angels (1965). Instead, she effortlessly segued into television and another two decades of solid work. So, to find Lupino pumping out the drivel in Woman in Hiding is a bit perplexing, as she had far more to offer and was, at least in 1949, at the cusp of entering her ‘golden period’ as actress/director/producer/writer. Woman in Hiding is the sob story of newlywed, Deborah Chandler (Lupino) and her aforementioned botched escape from husband, Selden Clark IV (Stephen McNally), who watches from the sidelines with a critical eye as police drag the waters of a nearby river for her remains. From here, we regress into the recent past and events that led to this fateful moment. Selden is manager of a textile mill owned by Deborah’s father, John (John Litel). Having accepted Selden’s proposal of marriage, almost immediately, Deb has second thoughts. She is devastated when her father is killed in a fall at the factory and Selden exploits her grief, laying on the charm to goad her into unholy matrimony.  

The couple’s honeymoon is an unmitigated disaster when Selden’s gal/pal, Patricia Monahan (Peggy Dow) makes an impromptu visit to their out-of-the-way cabin, informing Deb, she and Selden have been having an affair all along. Selden is boorish and threatening. He bullies Deborah into remaining in the marriage, leaving her seemingly friendless and disillusioned. As time passes, Deb begins to suspect her father did not suffer an accident at the mill but was murdered by Selden. Demanding a divorce, Deb drives off in a frenzy, suffering the failure of her brakes. However, moments before her car careens into the river, she manages to throw herself free. Believing she can never prove Selden’s complicity in either this tampering, or the crime of murder, Deb hightails it to Knoxville and assumes a new identity. As Ann Carter, she has a chance meeting with ex-military/newsstand clerk, Keith Ramsey (Howard Duff). But Deb’s confidence in him dovetails into a more sinister reckoning as Keith is merely interested in the $5,000 reward offered by Selden for his wife’s ‘safe’ return. At a hotel hosting a crowded convention, Selden plots to do away with Deb. Again, she survives this latest attempt on her life and Keith, now suddenly realizes Deb has been telling the truth all along. She is in grave danger. Meanwhile, Deb plots to find a witness who can corroborate her story…or, at least, can attest to the capacity of Selden’s evil. To this end, Deb contacts Pat, believing Selden’s ex-flame will turn on him now. Instead, Pat – still hopelessly in love with Selden - betrays Deb. A chase ensues; Deb, racing through the darkened mill with Selden in pursuit. He plans to throw her from the catwalk, similar to his dispatch of John not so long ago. In half-shadow, he mistakes Pat for Deb and kills her instead. Keith surfaces – forthright and determined to protect Deb from Selden. A fight between the men results in Keith gaining the upper hand. Selden dies and Deb hurries to Keith’s side.

Woman in Hiding is a fairly pedestrian and straight-forward whodunit with little in the way of genuine suspense to recommend it. There are some good vignettes scattered about, and the acting is solid. Stephen McNally is a slithery toad with the squared-off jaw of a failed prize fighter. His oft emotionless stance as the menace of the piece is simple and affecting. Lupino’s Deborah, while not exactly playing the part of the victim, nevertheless makes all the cliché misfires of a very green ingenue – marrying the wrong guy despite her better instincts screaming to avoid him – trusting another man without first getting to know him, and, worst of all, another woman who, having been scorned, is neither trustworthy nor genuine in her motives towards her. Oscar Saul and Roy Huggins’ screenplay, based on James Webb’s SEP story, ‘Fugitive from Terror’ checks all the boxes, and yet, in a rather pedestrian way that leaves the actors very little wiggle room to pursue their character’s motivations. In hindsight, the whole picture has a very mechanical feel, as in ‘this happened…then this happened…then, this, and so on.’  What ought to have been a truly unsettling ride, full of hairpin turns and ultimate surprises, is instead distilled into a ‘connect the dots’ straight line from points ‘A’ to ‘B’.

Lupino makes the most of Deborah – a cardboard cutout who, nevertheless, illustrates smarts that idiotically fail her in her repeated escapes from a brutalizing lover. Arguably, Lupino’s best scene is Deborah learning of John’s death. Though, as yet, unsuspecting he has been murdered, Lupino lends this moment an air of utter devastation. We can feel her pain. Peggy Dow, as the venomous Patricia, is a fairly stock femme fatale. Although a nice contrast to Lupino’s forthright Deb, she brings nothing memorable to the part of the essential ‘bad woman’. Nevertheless, Dow is definitely a few grades up from Howard Duff, who makes for an ineffectual third wheel. Keith arrives to this party too late to make an impression one way or the other and is, in the end, the token hero at best. The picture needs one, so he is it. The screenplay tries to infuse him with a little substance. But in the end, Keith gets tossed into the mix, just to get our leading lady out of a jam. The most exhilarating moment in Woman in Hiding comes too late to save the picture from its ennui; the climactic chase in the factory; William H. Daniel’s atmospheric cinematography getting the most from chiaroscuro shadows and the deafening mechanical clang, whirl and buzz of machinery. This is an ominous sequence, fraught with good tension, and, culminating in a harrowing battle between the boys on a catwalk for Deb’s honor.

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray is fairly solid, the B&W elements in remarkably good shape with barely an age-related speckle, scratch or other anomaly to be seen. Contrast is excellent. Fine details abound, though occasionally the image becomes marginally soft, between transitions, dissolves and fades. There are also a few long shots where contrast seems slightly boosted, and fine details are lacking; as though another element was used to cobble together the final print. Regardless, there are no real complaints here. A passable effort – not a perfect one. The 2.0 DTS soundtrack is adequate for this presentation, with clear dialogue and SFX. We get an audio commentary from film historian, Kat Ellinger. Aside: I am not a fan of Ellinger, having caught her in several easily exposed flubs and tidbits of misinformation on other audio commentaries. Part of what makes a commentary successful is the commentator’s ability to win our trust with factual information. Opinion is one thing, and Ellinger certainly offers plenty of that. But when she gets basic facts wrong, it just seems to debunk her credibility in totem. Much of Ellinger’s commentary on Woman in Hiding never goes beyond what we are seeing on the screen, a sort of hand-holding ‘walk through’ that is neither engaging nor – at times – even necessary. We have eyes.  Worse, she is scant on anecdotal back stories. I mean, if all else fails, the least Ellinger could have offered was independent biographical thumbnails on all the creatives involved in the making of this movie. We also get trailers. Bottom line: Woman in Hiding is passable – and even watchable, I suppose – for Ida Lupino. Good camera work from Daniels too. Otherwise, it barely gets a passing grade. The Blu-ray could have used some minor tweaking to get it just right. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

2.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

1