Spotlight on Ida Lupino

Ida Lupino was well-known to audiences as a movie star when she took a turn behind the camera on her uncredited directorial debut Not Wanted in 1949. The decade that followed was a highly productive period for Lupino: the dismantling of the studio system opened up new opportunities for independent filmmakers and the ascendancy of television created a bridge between Hollywood stars and the innovations of the small screen. She established, with her second husband Collier Young, the production company The Filmakers, and directed, co-wrote and co-produced five features, including The Bigamist (1953), in which she co-starred, while continuing to act in other people’s films. Television provided Lupino with the chance to extend her artistic vision further, as a director, producer and performer, across genres within the new medium.