Want to know the best Ida Lupino movies? How about the worst Ida Lupino movies? Curious about Ida Lupino box office grosses or which Ida Lupino movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Ida Lupino movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which ones got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information and much more.
Ida Lupino (1918-1995) was an American actress and director. Her IMDb page shows over 140 acting and directing credits from 1932-1978. This page will rank 41 Ida Lupino movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television appearances, shorts, and bit parts were not included in the rankings. This page comes from a request from Lupino (no relation).
Ida Lupino Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Ida Lupino movies by movie titles and trailers to those movies
- Sort Ida Lupino movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Ida Lupino movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Ida Lupino movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Ida Lupino movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Ida Lupino movie received.
- Sort by how many Oscar® wins each Ida Lupino movie received.
- Sort Ida Lupino movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Ida Lupino Table
- Fourteen Ida Lupino movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 34.15% of her movies listed. Hollywood Canteen (1944) was her biggest box office hit.
- An average Ida Lupino movie grosses $77.70 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 31 Ida Lupino movies are rated as good movies…or 46.15% of her movies. High Sierra (1941) is her highest rated movie while The Devil’s Rain (1975) was her lowest rated movie.
- Five Ida Lupino movies received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or 12.19% of her movies.
- Zero Ida Lupino movies won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or 0.00% of her movies.
- A “good movie” Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score is 60.00. 24 Ida Lupino movies scored higher than that average….or 58.53% of her movies. Hollywood Canteen (1944) got the the highest UMR Score while The Devil’s Rain (1975) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Ida Lupino – Courtesy of UMR Hall of Famer Lupino
1. Ida Lupino was born on February 4th, 1918 in Herne Hill, London, into a showbusiness family. She died August 3d, 1995 (aged 77) in Los Angeles, California. Lupino is an Italian surname. Her ancestors came from Bologna, Italy.
2. Ida Lupino wanted to be a writer, but in order to please her father, Lupino enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She started to appear in movies in 1931, at the tender age of 13.
3. By 1934, she had signed a deal with Columbia Pictures, but fell ill with Polio, making it impossible for her to work as an actress. Rather than succumbing to her illness, she sought out other creative means. While on bedrest, she composed “Aladdin’s Suite” in 1935. This piece of music was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1937.
4. After recovering, she began to appear in movies again, and in 1939 had her “breathrough” opposite Ronald Colman in The Light That Failed. This was followed by They Drive By Night, a sort of remake of the Paul Muni/Bette Davis film Bordertown. Lupino, billed behind George Raft and Ann Sheridan, gathered rave reviews and got first billing for the first time in her next movie, which to this day remains one of her best known: High Sierra.
5. During her time as a contract player at WB, she often went on suspension for rejecting scripts, that often were Bette Davis’ rejects in the first place. She said that during these suspensions she hung arround at various filmsets, learning the craft of a director by watching and studying the best of them.
6. Ida Lupino was the second woman to be admitted to the Director’s Guild. Dorothy Arzner was the first.
7. Ida Lupino was married three times: to actor Louis Hayward, producer Collier Young and actor Howard Duff, her longest marriage. She had a daughter with the womanizing Duff, Bridget, in 1952. At birth, Bridget only weighed 4 pounds and almost died.
8. On top of acting in and directing movies in the 50’s, Lupino became very activ on television, both as an actress (Mr. Adams and Eve, a sitcom costarring Howard Duff, Four Star Playhouse) and director (Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff’s Thriller). She directed her last theatrical movie in 1966, 13 years after her next to last directorial effort for the big screen.
9. In later years, Ida Lupino sometimes quite visibly sported wigs in her acting assignments. This was due to the fact that she was nearly bald.
10. About her career in Hollywood, Miss Lupino joked: As an actress, I was the poor man’s Bette Davis. Now, as a director, I’ve become the poor man’s Don Siegel.
11. Today, Miss Lupino’s career as a director in both movies and on television has earned her a prominent place as an “auteur du cinemà” and as a forerunner in a male dominated business, paving the way for other female directors.
12. A short overview about Ida Lupino’s work as a director can be seen here (article published by the British Film Institute):
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/ida-lupino-director
13. Musician Paul Bley recorded a song in honor of Miss Lupino entitled “Ida Lupino”, composed by his then-wife Carla Bley, for his 1965 album “Closer”. The instrumental Jazz piece can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsbDIX8VSkk
14. Check out Ida Lupino’s career compared to current and classic actors and actresses. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve’s Ida Lupino You Tube Video
Hey Lupino…..thanks for the information on Lupino’s involvement with Not Wanted….sounds like I need to see if I can add it to the page….my response is not with your comment because it is getting really hard to know where all the replies are directed.
Hey Lupino….while researching Raoul Walsh yesterday we unlocked another Ida movie…,Artists & Models……the 1937 version. It is now on the page.
😉
I haven’t seen that one…..yet!
Hey Lupino….I had no luck finding a trailer for this one….but at least I got all the stats for it. Shocked you have not seen it…..lol.
Hey Lupino…currently watching her The Hitch-Hiker. So far fascinated with William “Perry Mason” Talman’s performance.c
Maybe Bruce would be kind enough to add the following to Miss Lupino’s page:
Possibly Interesting Facts About Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino was born on February 4th, 1918 in Herne Hill, London, into a showbusiness family. She died August 3d, 1995 (aged 77) in Los Angeles, California. Lupino is an Italian surname. Her ancestors came from Bologna, Italy.
Ida Lupino wanted to be a writer, but in order to please her father, Lupino enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She started to appear in movies in 1931, at the tender age of 13.
By 1934, she had signed a deal with Columbia Pictures, but fell ill with Polio, making it impossible for her to work as an actress. Rather than succumbing to her illness, she sought out other creative means. While on bedrest, she composed “Aladdin’s Suite” in 1935. This piece of music was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1937.
After recovering, she began to appear in movies again, and in 1939 had her “breathrough” opposite Ronald Colman in The Light That Failed. This was followed by They Drive By Night, a sort of remake of the Paul Muni/Bette Davis film Bordertown. Lupino, billed behind George Raft and Ann Sheridan, gathered rave reviews and got first billing for the first time in her next movie, which to this day remains one of her best known: High Sierra.
During her time as a contract player at WB, she often went on suspension for rejecting scripts, that often were Bette Davis’ rejects in the first place. She said that during these suspensions she hung arround at various filmsets, learning the craft of a director by watching and studying the best of them.
Ida Lupino was the second woman to be admitted to the Director’s Guild. Dorothy Arzner was the first.
Ida Lupino was married three times: to actor Louis Hayward, producer Collier Young and actor Howard Duff, her longest marriage. She had a daughter with the womanizing Duff, Bridget, in 1952. At birth, Bridget only weighed 4 pounds and almost died.
On top of acting in and directing movies in the 50’s, Lupino became very activ on television, both as an actress (Mr. Adams and Eve, a sitcom costarring Howard Duff, Four Star Playhouse) and director (Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff’s Thriller). She directed her last theatrical movie in 1966, 13 years after her next to last directorial effort for the big screen.
In later years, Ida Lupino sometimes quite visibly sported wigs in her acting assignments. This was due to the fact that she was nearly bald.
About her career in Hollywood, Miss Lupino joked: As an actress, I was the poor man’s Bette Davis. Now, as a director, I’ve become the poor man’s Don Siegel.
Today, Miss Lupino’s career as a director in both movies and on television has earned her a prominent place as an “auteur du cinemà” and as a forerunner in a male dominated business, paving the way for other female directors.
A short overview about Ida Lupino’s work as a director can be seen here (article published by the British Film Institute):
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/ida-lupino-director
Musician Paul Bley recorded a song in honor of Miss Lupino entitled “Ida Lupino”, composed by his then-wife Carla Bley, for his 1965 album “Closer”. The instrumental Jazz piece can be heard here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsbDIX8VSkk
Hey Lupino…..thanks for the possibly interesting facts on Ida Lupino….they have been added to the page…..seems this quickly put together table is becoming a full UMR page. I will add in the missing table stats breakdown later today….as well as responding to the comments….which I somehow missed. Thanks for taking the time to put this information together.
By the way…..you will see that Ladies in Retirement and Life Begins at Eight-Thirty are now on the table…..went and did some research in the Harrison Reports.
Thanks again.
Now that you have added Ladies in Retirement: this is another Ida Lupino movie I have seen.
Flora…..And your lead expands over me and Steve….as I have not seen either of the movies I added.
Thanks for adding the movies and thanks for adding the interesting facts to the page 😉
Hey Lupino……well this is now a full fledge UMR page….the only thing that is missing are more movie trailers. Your efforts are greatly appreciated……not sure how many more movies I will be able to find….but 41 represents a very good % of her movies. Sorry it took a few days to see your “Facts” comment……it was a very busy weekend.
STEVE The saucy-faced Ida Lupino was one of the prominent stars of the forties and while she had much to be proud of in her own right her career also includes a unique historical significance that can never be taken away form it.
George Raft turned down the lead in 1941’s High Sierra and it was given to Bogart, up until then largely a supporting actor and as the more established star Lupino was billed above Bogart.
Thus Ida became the last performer male or female ever to be billed above the great Humphrey Bogart and she was also Bogie’s first leading lady in a meaningful main role for him.
I enjoyed your “normal” length Lupino video to the extent of 97.5% and here are the posters I most liked. Women’s Prison, Pillow to Post, foreign language one for Lust for Gold with my Glenn taking the top spot over Ida, Beware my Lovely, Moontide [pairing Ida with French great Jean Gabin. This was Gabin’s attempt to break into Hollywood but it was unsuccessful because of apparently his temperamental tantrums] Out of the Fog, Deep Valley [co-starring Ida with Dane Clark whom Hollywood vainly attempted to make into the new Bogie with films that had searing titles such as The Toughest Man Alive, The Man is Armed and Port of Hell], The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, High Sierra, Woman in Hiding with one-time hubby Howard Duff, The Big Knife and again with Duff and Dana Andrews in While the City Sleeps.
I like both posters for the latter film as the first one shows Rhonda Fleming at her sexiest and the 2nd one is an excellent foreign language version. It is my personal favourite Dana Andrews movie.
There is a kind of a Dan-like link connected with The Big Knife as Ida’s co-star in that one Jack Palance had the Bogie role of Roy Earle in the 1955 remake of High Sierra called I Died a Thousand Times with Shelley Winter in Ida’s old role.
STILLS I preferred (1) saucy opening one (2) lobby card for Beware my Lovely (3) Ida with Palance (4) and (5) with Bogie in They Drive by Night and High Sierra (6) with my Richard in the quartet scene from Road House (7) the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes lobby card (8) On Dangerous Ground and (8) closing one of Ida the voluptuous.
You and this site’s top star agree on 5 of Ida’s Top 6 best reviewed films – very close result.
In my previous post I referred to the Holmes film as The Hound of the Baskervilles rather than the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – apologies.
Fixed.
THANKS for fixing
Here to help….lol.
Hi Bob, I can barely remember making this video. Thanks for digging it up and reviewing it, appreciate the rating, info and trivia.
Glad you enjoyed the picture gallery.
And why oh why is your shiny new post hidden away amongst these older posts? (stop annoying Bob, Steve!)
Interesting historical fact about Ida in your post regarding billing over Bogie but what about the even more historical significance of her being the first and only female director of film noir in Hollywoods golden age? Even Lupino fan and UMR regular Lupino doesn’t mention this fascinating fact in his trivia list posted above. Lupino was an actress, director and pioneer.
Bruce and I have the same no.1 – High Sierra, though my sources seem to like The Sea Wolf more than his.
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is highly rated on both our charts, it’s a fun adventure but I prefer Hound of the Baskervilles. George Zucco was the first and best Moriarty in the Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce series. 14 films altogether, the first 2 for Fox and 12 more for Universal.
HI STEVE Thanks for the feedback on my Ida Lupino post and for reminding me of Ida’s directorial contributions.
My own notes suggest that all told she had 41 assignments as director: 34 television credits screened between 1956 and 1968 and 7 feature films all made between 1949 and 1953 when her acting career was on the decline. Those 7 are
Hard Fast and Beautiful
Not Wanted
The Bigamist
The Hitchiker
On Dangerous Ground
Outrage
Never Fear
The 7 feature films are all low budget rather drab affairs which didn’t attract anywhere near reasonable audiences. For example Not Wanted is about an unwed mother an almost taboo subject back in 1949 and certainly wasn’t going to attract moviegoers who looked for a feel-good fix!
Ida was uncredited for her directorial role in Not Wanted and didn’t appear in the film which is maybe why I can’t find it on Bruce’s table. Ida’s sister Rita Lupino did though have a supporting part in it. Also Dan would probably mention that the star of the film was Sally Forrest who DID get to act alongside Ida in 1956’s While the City Sleeps
However our Boy Wonder has again worked his magic and has given us adjusted domestic grosses for the other 6 despite the obscurity of most of them and their overall Cogerson take is approx. $164 million, average $27 million roughly. [Thanks Bruce]
On Dangerous Ground [for which again Ida is uncredited] is her most artistically successful of the 7 and I liked it especially for Robert Ryan’s brilliant performance. I also liked The Hitchhiker and The Bigamist as the star of both was Edmond O’Brien one of my all-time fave character actors and sometimes lead star.
But whoa bike! – let’s not get too carried away. Directorial achievements more historically significant than a star getting top billing? “Never!” would insist Spencer Tracy and Steve McQueen.
Hey Bob and Steve….great breakdown on Ida…..this will make Lupino so happy…..as his favorite actress has been getting some major attention here at UMR.
Yep…her directed movies did not fare well at all…..actually they almost ruined her financially. Yesterday I watched the Hitch-Hiker. At times it was pretty campy…..but I liked the logic of the bad guy…that part of the movie was pretty smart. I did like Edmond O’Brien in the movie…he actually got to show a few more emotions than the one note the other two did.
As for Not Wanted….”uncredited” is the exact reason it is not listed here….since writing this page I think we have uncovered a few more Lupino movies…most recently Artists & Models. Good feedback.
Hello Bob,
great comment on one of my favs! I have seen all of her directorial cinematic outings, credited and uncredited, but it has been a while. From memory, I preferred The Bigamist over the others, apart from On Dangerous Ground, which is one of my favorite Lupino movies from her time after she left WB. I do have to ask you, though, where you got the information that she directed it. My sources, among them the german book “Beide Seiten der Kamera” (Both sides of the camera), which has only been published this year, never mention that she “took over” from Nicholas Ray- although I must admit that deep in my memory I feel that I have read something about it long ago. Both Sides of the Camera is a fascinating read and made me want to check out all of her directorial efforts again, now being “better equipped” to understand the way Lupino used the camera to comment on the characters as well as on the story she wants to tell.
Mr. Lensman,
UMR regular Lupino DID include a link in his “Interesting Facts” to a short overview of all of this page’s top star Lupino where the fact of her being the only female director to have directed a classic noir is amply celebrated (Interesting Facts No.12). 😉
Great to see Ida getting some buzz here again!
Somehow the sentence doesn’t sound right. I hope it does make some sense after all lol…hard trying to be funny in a foreign language…
GOOD EVENING LUPINO
Thank you for expressing your appreciation of my posts about your namesake!
I got the information that Ida was an uncredited director of On Dangerous Ground from that movie’s page on the International Movies Database [IMDB]
Apparently the main director Nicholas Ray fell ill and Ida took on the director’s role for a while as well as of course continuing to play the female lead in the film.
They were obviously fortunate to have someone with Ida’s directorial skills at hand on set to take over the direction at short notice.
I did mention in my 7.28 am post yesterday that Ida’s directorial input was uncredited at the time.
However IMDB now lists it as one of the 7 movies that it credits her with directing [or part thereof] from 1949-53 and also gives her statistical credit for it in IMDB’s sum total of 41 projects directed by her all of the others being in TV series, for example-
The Virginian/1 episode
The Twilight Zone/1 episode
The Untouchables/3 episodes
Alfred Hitchccok Presents/2 episodes
77 Sunset Strip/2 episodes.
She was fortunate to have that ability as a director to fall back on when her movie acting career went into the normal decline for a movie star who has a long career.
Best wishes BOB
Yes you did Lupino….this page is turning into a pretty good page…..originally….it was basically just the table……but now it has gotten more movies added, Steve’s You Tube video, your interesting facts and lots of comments. Thanks again for the suggestion.
Hey Sir Bob….good review on Steve’s video.
And finally…Hello Bruce,
I remember that I was a little disappointed when I saw The Hitchhiker, but after having read the book “Beide Seiten der Kamera”, I got the feeling that there was much more hidden in the movie than what I have seen upon my original viewing. Wish I had more time…but one day I will watch all of Ida’s films as a director again, and who knows, maybe I will be even more fascinated by her than I already am!
About Not Wanted: Ida did direct that movie but felt she should leave the original directors name in the credits. Director Elmer Clifton had suffered a heart attack shortly before the actual filming began, from which he died that same year. Still, she got credit for co writing the screenplay and co producing the movie, thus her involvement in the picture is pretty much established.
Hello Bob,
thanks for clarifying 🙂 After reading your reply to my question, I remembered that your information about Ida taking over from Ray during an illness was exactly what I read somewhere…ages ago. I have seen quite a few of her TV work as a director, and apart from that Twilight Zone episode, I was especially impressed by her directorial skills as shown on 8 episodes of Boris Karloff’s “Thriller” TV show.
HI LUPINO
As Bruce would say, glad I could help.
BOB
Hi
Lupino was a wonderful talent but as I’ve mentioned before, Warner Brothers was overcrowded with female talent and she was well down in the pecking order. Nevertheless she made some great movies, Drive by Night, The Sea Wolf and Roadhouse.
I’ve seen some of her directorial movies, it’s a pity she didn’t have any real break out hits in that department. It’s amazing during these years there was such prejudice against women directing movies. Gladly times have changed.
Hey Chris
1. Thanks for the feedback on Ida Lupino.
2. I agree with you…that Warner Brothers was overcrowded with female talent.
3. For some reason I always got her mixed up with Mercedes McCambridge…maybe now that Lupino has an UMR page, the more likely I will not mix them up.
4. I have not seen any of the movies you mentioned as good ones….I will see if I can get my hands on some Ida movies.
5. Once again, I agree, her directing career should have been better…..but it is still a pretty impressive feat for sure.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Ida.
Ida Lupino eh… the name seems familiar…
I’ve seen 8 of the 39 films on the chart. There are two films on there I saw which weren’t included on my video because of low ratings – The Devils Rain and Food of the Gods.
My two favorites are High Sierra and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
I’m curious to see The Hitch-Hiker, Lupino directed that one. I’m wondering if it was an inspiration for the Rutger Hauer thriller The Hitcher, a film I watched a bunch of times on video tape years ago.
Not counting the two wartime extravaganzas, Escape Me Never with Errol Flynn was her biggest hit. I don’t think I’ve seen that one.
Good stuff Bruce and thanks again for the link. Vote Up!
Hey Steve…..Ida here, Ida there, Ida everywhere……between your video and this page…..we are making Ida popular again…..though I am sure Lupino is screaming…..”she has always been popular”. For some reason I get Ida, Mercedes McCambridge and Tallulah Bankhead mixed up…..maybe one day I will get them straight.
I have only seen her two Bogie movies…..and a recent library search did not show many of her movies in my library’s massive movie collection….might have to go to other sources to see more of her movies.
I would bet that her Hitch-Hiker has nothing to do with the Hauer Hitcher…..the writer of that 1980s classic got the idea for the movie from the Doors’ song Riders of the Storm. He found that the “elements of the song – a killer on the road in a storm plus the cinematic feel of the music – would make a terrific opening for a film…he was right.
Thanks for the visit, the tally, the comment and the nice words….all are appreciated.
Hi there Steve and Bruce,
Bruce is right about Lupino’s Hitchhiker- it is based on the real life case of William E. Cook, the 21 year old hitchhiker, kidnapper and killer of six people. Lupino and then husband Collier Young wrote a script about the once notorious Cook which Ida then directed. While in production, the movie, at first known as The Difference, became the Persuader and finally ended up in cinemas as The Hitchhiker. It is regarded by many critics as the only true Noir ever directed by a woman as well as Ida Lupino’s finest hour as a director. Lupino herself stated that Hitchhiker was her own favorite among the movies she directed. According to biographer Jerry Vermilye, it also was the only movie among Ida’s directorial efforts pre The Trouble With Angels that brought in money- sadly not confirmed by Bruce’s box office stats.
Hey Lupino….thanks for the information on her Hitch-Hiker. You know you Lupino stuff. Interesting that Vermilye said Hitch-Hiker made some money at the box office. Of her directed movies ……it was one of the better grosses…..and it had a low budget….so I bet it was profitable….while the other ones were not profitable…even making a studio shut down. Good feedback.