Outrage

Ida Lupino is a name that we know for one of the most stunning beauties ever to appear on screen.

And the beauty is great.

So is the actress.

So is the director.

This is a stage fare sort of film. A great film has to work on stage as well as screen. A great film has to inspire kids to make believe, although the subject matter here probably is over the heads of most kids.

This is the story of a respectable young woman, a total beauty on the order of Ida herself, rich in values, who is sexually assaulted.

What she goes through after-wards is well depicted. Not only does Ida show us what the world sees, but she shows us what the young lady sees.

Throughout the film, we get textbook directing and more. Not only is it blocked like a professional stage director would block it, but it is given all the additives that film can give. To say more would be to spoil what will be a pleasant experience for the viewer.

I call it "perfect directing", but you can't have a film this perfect without perfect writing and acting as well. This film excels on all levels.

I am a stickler for credible characters in incredible circumstances. However, here, we have credible characters in credible circumstances, and we still watch with interest. It is a heart filled story that will leave the strong men in tears.

And it is not dated. Still relevant today. A hidden gem.

"Outrage" is about rape, though the word is never mentioned. Directed and cowritten by Ida Lupino, it concerns a young woman (Mala Powers) who is engaged to be married and is raped on her way home from work. Traumatized and filled with shame, she runs away from home. She ends up in a community where she is attended to by a minister. However, she doesn't tell him what happened to her. Problems arise.

Though made 56 years ago, the elements of the film ring true, and of course, feelings don't change - the victim thinks she's dirty and behaves as if she is the criminal.

Mala Powers gives a very good performance, exhibiting the shock, nervousness, and terror of the victim. Though the script meanders a bit, Lupino does an excellent job of directing, particularly the action scenes.

In 1950, this film was probably ahead of its time. It's good to see to show us where we were (particularly with no DNA tests or rape kits) and where we are.

Outrage is directed by Ida Lupino and Lupino co-writes the screenplay with Collier Young and Malvin Wald. It stars Mala Powers, Tod Andrews and Robert Clarke. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Archie Stout.

Transport your mindset back to 1950 and you are in all probability going to admire this picture more than you would think. As is duly noted by other reviewers, this pic, and it's treatment of rape as a core subject matter, is dated as such, but that in no way lessens not only its impact and importance in the pantheon of film making, but also the fine work by Lupino. Lupino treads with careful guile, not resorting to sensationalism, it's a super piece of directing from one of the great ladies of cinema yore.

Pic's story deals with how Ann Walton (Powers) is raped and after the ordeal how she reacts to everyday life under her fragile mental state. The decisions she makes, her perception of things and ultimately a near cataclysmic event that brings things to the boil - sort of. Lupino adds in some imposing images, her film noir work serving her well, thus we get odd angles, ominous bulbous lamp lights, lonely streets and clown posters! The pursuit of Ann by a whistling wolf is frightening under any circumstance, but with Lupino adding her noir touches it's positively shattering.

Rest of the pic is tenderly played, a touch too sedate perhaps, while the appearance of a religious slant is forced and not the wisest of choices for the story, but ultimately it's not about mass market appeal. It's about being noticed and worthy, it achieves both for sure. 7/10

It was the first film dealing with the burning subject of rape.France,for instance,had to wait till 1977 to see a (female) director -Yannick Bellon- tackle this crime.Bellon had a different way to express her disgust in her "l'amour violé" :she showed the whole scene of the rape which lasted ten interminable minutes and she did not turn the audience into peeping toms ,far from it: most of the time,they had to look away .

Given the Hayes code ,and given the limitations she was working under,Lupino's movie is quite successful.We do not see the rape ,but its aftermath is depicted in lavish details:the scene at the office where the heroine cannot stand the familiar noises anymore is a great moment;the people on the street with their big smile who talk behind her back;the fiancé who cannot understand and who wants to carry on as if nothing has happened;every man becoming a living threat for her;all rings true.

It will take a man's patience,compassion and disinterested love to push Ann towards life again.

From one time actress Ida Lupino comes one of her efforts as a director. Not many people know Lupino as director & its a shame since she really was a groundbreaking filmmaker who had a prolific output, which I'm ashamed to admit this is my first (& hopefully not my last). This story concerns an attack on a woman (who's about to be married) on her way home from work. The assault leaves the woman in such a state of shock, she breaks off her nuptials & leaves town hopefully to regain some meaning in her life which she does when she meets a kindly doctor among a hamlet of fruit pickers & farmers. Understated yet passionately depicted, the travails of the victim had to be a revelation for the 1950's, going against the grain of what had become the status quo of most male directors. A brave & honorable effort. I can't wait to watch more of her stuff.