Donna in fuga

We first hear Ida Lupino's voice, in sepulchral voice-over, as we watch the wreck of a car that has plummeted over a bridge in North Carolina. "That's my body they're looking for..." she informs us. She's having a bad year; her father has died suddenly in an "accident" in the mill he owned and she up and married its general manager (Steven McNally), whom her father loathed (with reason: McNally killed him). On her wedding night she learned the truth about McNally (who seemed to specialize in deranged, controlling husbands, as in Make Haste to Live), and, trying to flee, found herself in a vehicle which he had rendered brakeless.

She's presumed dead, leaving McNally to inherit the mill (his plan all along), but just to be sure he puts out a reward for finding her. And Howard Duff, a newsstand clerk at a bus station in a nearby town, spots her, now blonde and on the lam. They strike a few sparks, but McNally convinces Duff that Lupino is emotionally disturbed, insuring that she'll be institutionalized and under his thumb.

All in all, Woman in Hiding's title says it all: It's a fairly standard woman-in-distress picture, but one with a superior cast. In addition to the tried-and-true team of Lupino and Duff (they were married at te time), Peggy Dow invests her few brief scenes as a ruthless rival for McNally's attention with memorable flair. The film looks good, too, especially in the darkened mill at the conclusion -- a conclusion which anticipates by a couple of years that of Sudden Fear, in which Joan Crawford fends of a homicidal busband who's got a bad girl on the side. Woman in Hiding is no masterpiece, nor is it one of Lupino's best performances, but it's well made, swift and satisfying.

As the opening credits roll, newly wedded Ida Lupino (as Deborah Chandler) desperately tries to stop herself from crashing her car. In an attempted murder, the brakes have been disabled. We see the car drive off a North Carolina bridge and listen to Ms. Lupino's ghostly narration. But don't assume she's dead, or that the accident ends the story… After the prologue fails to uncover a dead body, we begin earlier. Inheriting a profitable mill upon the subsequently suspicious death of her father, Lupino marries the plant's general manager Stephen McNally (as Selden Clark). Apparently, they were a long-term couple; the wedding is the first of several implausible story developments. Lupino asks, "Why didn't I see it?" Don't know...

When they arrive at Mr. McNally's mountain cabin for a honeymoon, sexy Peggy Dow (as Patricia Monahan) is waiting. She reveals herself as McNally's "little business trips" lover and is understandably furious with Lupino's presence. After husband and lover smack each other around, Lupino decides she wants the marriage annulled, but McNally refuses. Lupino runs off, changes her name to "Ann Carter" and tries to hide from her homicidal husband. She meets handsome and helpful Howard Duff (as Keith Ramsey), but he isn't sure who is telling the truth. Beautiful black-and-white photography by William Daniels, effective direction from Michael Gordon and engaging performances make "Woman in Hiding" well worth following.

******* Woman in Hiding (12/27/49) Michael Gordon ~ Ida Lupino, Howard Duff, Stephen McNally, Peggy Dow

Deborah Chandler (Ida Lupino) assures her mill owner father that she is not marrying dubious plant manager Selden Clark IV (Stephen McNally). Then her father dies in a plant accident. On the day of the funeral, Selden asks her to marry him. She eventually accepts, but suspicion soon arises when distraught Patricia Monahan (Peggy Dow) shows up on their honeymoon.

There are so many red flags. It is probably for the best that the audience doesn't always see him sweet-talk her to ignore those flags. I don't think that I would believe those scenes. I can always ignore what I don't see. This is a nice little melodramatic potboiler. It helps to have Ida Lupino selling the material.

As in almost all of these suspenseful melodramas from the '50s, there are certain lapses in logic throughout WOMAN IN HIDING that had me shaking my head in disbelief. Some of the choices that Lupino makes as the vulnerable heroine are too foolhardy to be believable, but once the plot starts rolling there's no turning away.

A particularly bad choice is the scene where she casually gets into a car with Peggy Dow, a scorned woman who is leading her into a trap which brings her right back to the man (Stephen McNally) she is hiding from at a dark and sinister mill.

But despite such motivational flaws, the film manages to be a better than average melodrama with all three leads--Ida Lupino, Howard Duff and Stephen McNally--giving expert performances.

Most effective aspect is the tight pace of the story and the film noir look of the B&W photography. Ida Lupino gives another one of her tense performances as she gets caught up in the excessive manipulations of McNally who is intent on killing her to inherit her father's mill. Howard Duff tries to help once he understands her fears and from that point on the story leaps forward to a satisfying ending involving a trick later used to good effect in Joan Crawford's "Sudden Fear." Not a great film, but a satisfying "lady in distress" melodrama.

#265moviwreview

Terrific blend of melodrama and noir, this film doesn't have any surprises but the sturdy direction by Michael Gordon and terrific performances by the always great Ida Lupino good Stephen McNally, good Howard Duff and the terrific Peggy Dow make this worth a watch.

The ending is a bit lazy and during a climactic fight scene, it's kind of a mistake in showing the stunt men's faces in closeup.

But, seeing Joe Besser 7 years before Stoogedom saying "stop crowding me" is worth a watch.

Fun fact: Lupino and Duff got off to a rocky start. She thought he was obnoxious. Obviously their time on screen made their relationship blossom since they got married in 1951.

WATCH IT

3.5/5.