I really wish I could write this entry about one of Ida Lupino's film noirs. They're what she was best known for, along with several socially conscious dramas about taboo subjects that she directed through her company, The Filmakers Inc. Lupino had a remarkable career behind the camera, and racked up a lot of superlatives and firsts, simply because she was a rare independent female writer/director in the classic era - the only woman to direct a film noir in the Hollywood studio system after starring in several. A lot of her rare clout came from having established herself as an actress first - and honestly, I like her better as an actress than a director, with memorable performances in "They Drive By Night," "Moontide," and many more. However, once Lupino started directing, it became her passion.
I should probably be writing this entry about "The Bigamist" or "The Hitch-hiker," Lupino's most well-known and widely praised films. Unfortunately, she also directed a Hayley Mills comedy at the end of her career, one that I absolutely adored as a small child. It would not be honest of me to write about any other picture than Lupino's last theatrical feature, "The Trouble With Angels." It is completely unlike her other films - gentle and sweet without a single murder or felony. Lupino took the job in the 60s, when she had transitioned to directing "blood and guts" television westerns and thrillers. It's much easier to think of "The Trouble With Angels" as a Hayley Mills film than an Ida Lupino film, because it's exactly the kind of family picture Mills was known for making in that era. For years I thought that this was one of the Hayley Mills Disney comedies, because the tone is similar to "The Parent Trap" and "That Darn Cat!"
Taking place in a Catholic boarding school, "The Trouble With Angels" is also a nun movie, a troublemaking kids movie, and a coming of age movie. Told from the perspective of two mischievous adolescent girls and the ever-patient Mother Superior who keeps them in line, we learn all the ins and outs of life at the fictional St. Francis Academy. The cast is almost entirely female. And despite all the nuns in their habits, and the girls in their gray school uniforms, I think of the film as a very colorful affair - swimming pools, art classes, Christmas decorations, marching band outfits, and a brief episode with Gypsy Rose Lee as a wiggy dance instructor in bright purple. As a kid, of course Hayley Mills as Mary Clancy, with her "scathingly brilliant" prank ideas was the coolest girl ever. As an adult, however, I have far more appreciation for Rosalind Russell's stern, but deeply loving Mother Superior. A big part of the film is Mary learning to view her as a role model rather than an antagonist authority figure.
The film was based on a best-selling memoir, and the movie uses a very episodic structure, covering three years in the girls' lives, from arriving at St. Francis as fourteen year-olds to graduation day. The transitions between one event and the next are often unclear, and there are a lot of time jumps to skip the girls' vacations and trips, so time always feels very fluid. You don't notice that Mary and Rachel are growing up until suddenly they're on the brink of adulthood. Likewise, I always loved how Blanche Hanalis's script slowly introduces more mature elements into the film, bit by bit, from the visit to the elderly home to the passing of one of the nuns, until Mary Clancy reaches the point where she's ready to make a very grown-up decision. It's obvious why Rosalind Russell took the part of Mother Superior, as she's allowed to transform from a cartoon villain to a shining example of humanity by the end of the film. And she gets to have an awful lot of fun in the process - getting pranked, outfoxing her charges, bantering with her fellow nuns, and forever soldiering on in the face of crass modernity and youthful chaos. It's one of her best roles.
Why did Ida Lupino direct "The Trouble With Angels"? Maybe she needed a break from her stories of violent men and desperate women. Maybe it was because she had a teenage daughter at the time and wanted to make something that she could watch. Her third marriage hit the rocks roughly when the film was released, and maybe she just needed the distraction. For whatever reason, Lupino directed almost nothing after "Angels," which was a hit. Instead, she spent the rest of the '60s and '70s working as a character actress. Her directing career was brief, but highly influential and her work remains a touchstone to this day.
What I've Seen - Ida Lupino
Never Fear (1949)
Outrage (1950)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
The Bigamist (1953)
The Trouble with Angels (1966)
---
No comments:
Post a Comment