CineMata's Movie Madness
  • Homepage
  • Guest Reviews & Interviews
    • Rhapsody in August
  • Hollywood Award Shows
    • Barbenheimer, the Goldilocks Dilemma and Oscar 2024
    • Cine's Fantasy Golden Globes 2021
    • Oscar 2020
    • For Your Consideration 2018
    • For Your Consideration 2017
    • 50 Shades of Oscar 2016
    • 2016 Golden Globes
    • 2015 Emmys Redux
    • 2014 Oscars: Plantation Politics
    • 2014 Emmys : A Dash of Racism
    • 2013 Emmys : Hold the Mayo
  • Cine's Closeup
    • Nessie 2023
    • Jeanne duBarry
    • Dead Boy Detectives
    • Missing
    • You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!
    • Kill Bok-soon
    • The Pale Blue Eye
    • The Munsters 2022
    • Hello, My Name is Doris
    • In Praise of Family
    • Venom 2
    • Ophelia
    • Mank
    • Macbeth 2015
  • Pioneering Feministas
    • Tar: Are You Being Gaslighted?
    • Janet Green: Tapping into the Dark Side
    • Women Make Film
    • Alice Guy-Blache
    • Auteur Directors
  • Star Spot
    • Juanita Moore
    • Raisin in the Sun 3
    • Cine's Walk of Fame Tour
  • The Woman's Voice
    • Blonde 2022
    • Women Warriors
    • The Divine Order
    • Twilight: A Primal Call for Patriarchal Dominance
    • The Fierce Women of Summer
    • Martha Fiennes' ONEGIN
    • The Dressmaker
    • Sofia Coppola and The Silent Woman
    • Thelma and Louise
    • Bridesmaids 2011
    • Mildred Pierce HBO
    • Dragonwyck
    • Cousin Bette
    • Stage Beauty
  • About Cine
  • Top Ten Faves
    • Cine's Top Film & TV Picks for 2023
    • 'Tis the Season for Murder
    • 12 Days of Cinematic Christmas 2020
    • The Best Film Experiences of 2017
    • Female Villains to Die For
    • 10 Remakes to Remember
    • We Heart the Bad Boys
    • 12 Days of Cinematic Christmas 2014
    • Most Memorable Moms
    • Cult Film Faves
  • Contact Cine
  • Hollywood Notables
    • Fiona Shaw
    • Viola Davis
    • Elizabeth Banks
    • Shia LaBeouf
  • Rave Reviews
    • Best of Netflix 2017
    • Mayhem
    • Dave Made a Maze
    • Lavender
    • Hail Caesar!
    • Spy
    • Gravity
    • Inception 2010
    • Black Swan 2010
    • Flight
    • Moonrise Kingdom
    • Lincoln
    • Looper
    • Lawless
  • Telegenic Static
    • Annika * Season 2
    • Wednesday
    • Cine's 2018/19 Seasonal Faves
    • The Highwaymen
    • Cine's New Year Resolution: Watch More Netflix!
    • TCM : A Class Act
    • Best of TV * 2017
    • Female Detectives on TV
    • Neo-Renaissance TV: Feud & Big Little Lies
    • True Detective Navigates Noirland
    • Texas Rising
    • 2014/2015 TV Season Highlights
    • 2013-2014 TV Favorites
  • British Film & TV
    • Stage Fright
    • The Banshees of Inisherin
    • Doc Martin
    • Song of the Swan
    • Death in Paradise
    • Miss Scarlet and the Duke
    • The Stranger
    • Sanditon
    • Collateral
    • Handsome Devil
    • Love & Friendship
    • Victorian Slum House
    • 45 Years
    • Anonymous
    • Appropriate Adult
    • Sherlock Holmes: Many Faces
    • Philomena
    • British Feminista TV
    • Brassed Off
  • The Golden Age
    • Gone with the Wind
    • Cleopatra 1934
    • Elizabeth Taylor: The Passing of an Icon
  • Who You Callin' Crazy?!
    • Cine's Walk of Fame Tour
    • Count Bela: Nosferatu & Vampyr
    • Post Awards with Ida Lupino
    • The Duke: Cowboys/Aliens vs WWZ
    • Liberace Dishes
    • Elizabeth Taylor Visits Cine
  • Noir Greats
    • Nightmare Alley
    • The Big Heat
    • Femme Fatales: Crime is My Career
    • Femme Fatales: Honey, I'm Home!
    • Crime of Passion
    • The Loves of Carmen
    • The Many Faces of Noir
    • In Order of Disappearance
    • Boss - 2011/12 series
    • Pepe le Moko 1937
    • Mystery Street 1950
    • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    • The Barefoot Contessa: A Noir Bridge to Nowhere
    • They Won't Believe Me
    • Dan Duryea Nails Noir
    • What Is Film Noir?
    • They Drive By Night
  • Commentaries
    • Award Season 2019 Redux
    • #OscarsSoTarnished
    • Orson Welles Independent Film Tribute
    • Oscar 2016: The Politics of Segregation
    • Hollywood Director's Club: For Men Only
    • Poliwood and the Hollywood Blacklist
    • Cine Mata's 2015 Picks and Pans
    • The Unbearable Whiteness of Emmy Hosting
    • Oscar's Dodge
  • Drive-By Reviews
    • Dark Phoenix
    • Nola Circus
    • Comfort
    • ATOMICA
    • Innuendo
    • My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
    • Film Franchise Meltdown
    • The Woman in Black
    • Girls with Guns 3.0
    • Coriolanus
    • Lady Scarface 1941
  • International Films & TV
    • My Pandemic Marathon Diaries
    • The Twelve
    • Mr. Sunshine
    • The World of International Noir
    • Romance of Our Parents
    • The Grand Hotel Saga
    • Don't Be Bad
    • The Handmaiden
    • Caramel / Sukkar banat
    • Morning for the Osone Family 1946
    • Fritz Lang's M
    • La Bete Humaine
  • Political Rx
    • The Sympathizer
    • Rebellion
    • Women in the White House
    • The Ides of March
    • By The People: The Election of Barack Obama
  • Culture Centric Cinema
    • Horror Noire
    • Self Made
    • Little
    • Hidden Figures
    • Fences
    • #Whiterose: Identity, Secrecy & BD Wong
    • Imitation of Life 1934
    • Frazzled Hair Wars
    • Soul Men
  • Indie Films
    • Scotland, PA
    • Adrift in Soho
    • H4
    • Paint It Red
    • HAMLET in the Golden Vale
    • Trouble is My Business
    • The Browsing Effect
    • Indie Films 2018 >
      • Clara's Ghost
      • Cold War
      • To Dream
      • The New Romantic
      • Here and Now
      • Unlovable
      • The Landing
      • I CAN I WILL I DID
      • Choosing Signs
      • Iron Brothers
      • Across the River
      • Josephine Doe
      • Sunset
      • SUNSET: Interview
      • The Forgiven
      • Kill Order
      • Midnighters
      • Half Magic
      • Looking Glass
      • Entanglement
      • Crazy Famous
      • Stratton
      • As You Like It
      • Hunter
  • eau de cinematic clunker
    • Avatar 2: The Way of Water
    • The Irishman
    • Almost Friends
    • The Osiris Child
    • Bushwick
    • Pilgrimage
    • Fun Mom Dinner
    • Once Upon A Time in Venice
    • Aaron's Blood
    • Black Rose
    • Lucy 2014
    • Transcendence 2014
  • Book Reviews
    • Conversations with Ray Bradbury
    • A Woman's View
    • Dark Dames
    • Auntie Mame's Favorite Son: Patrick Dennis
    • I'm A Lebowski, You're A Lebowski
  • Documentary Picks & Pans
    • Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop
    • Black Ballerina
    • Leftover Women
    • Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
    • Unrest
    • Be Natural
    • Farmsteaders
    • Bombshell : Hedy Lamarr
    • Jungle
    • Who the F**k is that Guy?
    • The Man in the Camo Jacket
    • Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation
    • Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe
    • Listen to Me Marlon
    • I Am Not Your Negro
    • The Girls in the Band
    • TCM's Trailblazing Women in Film
    • The Honor Diaries
    • Side By Side
    • American Masters : Salinger
    • The Story of Film
  • LGBTQ pov
    • The Watermelon Woman
    • Making Sweet Tea
    • Drag Queens & Trannies
    • Milk 2009
  • Silent Classics
    • Charles Epting: Silent Film Historian
    • Hollywood's Silent Film Grave Huntress
    • La Boheme 1926
    • The Blot 1921
    • Pandora's Box
    • Don Juan
  • Art House Flicks
    • Birth
    • I'm Not There
  • Kid's Korner
    • Pokemon Detective Pikachu
    • Hotel Transylvania 3 : Summer Vacation
    • The Incredibles 2
    • Sherlock Gnomes
    • Paddington 2
    • Lego Batman: A Super Hero in Crisis
    • SING: Cine's 2017 Oscar Pick
    • Summer Flicks 2016
    • Kung Fu Panda 3 / 2016
  • Cine's Friends
  • Archives
Picture
Award Season Musings
    Faux Interview with Ida Lupino 




by Paulette Reynolds

March 28, 2014








City Scene - Hollywood, 5:00 a.m. Front of the Kodiak Theatre. The street, once resplendent with red carpet photographers, movie stars, and carefully selected adoring fans have vanished, leaving only a faint echo of Award Show Season (ASS) perfume in the air.  But wait - in the distance, we can see a figure sitting in a director's chair, conferring with several people as the light barely works its way through the clouds. The back of the chair reads, "Mother of Us All",  and as we - or they - come into sharp focus, we see the great independent film and television director, Ida Lupino.


We wait for her to acknowledge us...tick tock...clearly she's too busy f---

"Well, come on now darlings! I haven't got all day - I need this light - please move the reflectors this way for Mum...good, good. Now, where was I? Oh yes, Cine told me you'd be by to - no! not that one, the large one! - oh, to ask my opinion about the Academy Awards?"

"Actually, I think she was hoping you could share your views about this award show season?"

Ms. Lupino turns her compact body to me, fixing me with a sharp , quick stare. "Award show season? Season? Who has time for an entire season?" Inhaling her cigarette in a few deep puffs, she appears preoccupied by a makeup assistant, hovering over B-list actress Mala Powers. "Darling - she's not going to prom, the woman just got raped, please, dear - muss up that hair!" The director who once called herself "the bulldozer" abruptly turns towards me.

Picture
"Look, the big boys on the top floor decided - years ago - that ASS should be handled like any Hollywood property -- heavily handicapped in favor of their film projects and feature stars . So those movie and television 'zines like EW, People, and E!, together with their favorite critics target certain films, tv shows, and stars that the Hollywood Brass Boys want to win during the winter award season. ASS then becomes just another marketing tool to direct consumers into the movie theaters, DVD aisles, rental companies (Netflix, HULU), and cable On Demand channels, from November until late spring. By Oscar night, all the surprise has been squeezed dry and audiences are left with little more than an over-hyped musical fashion show."

"I had no idea you knew so much about the current film industry, Ms. Lupino." 

The face that graced over fifty films - strong, with a cynical turn to her lips and a tough glint in her eyes - snapped a quick nod in my general direction. Often referring to herself as the "poor man's Bette Davis", Ida laughed. "Listen, I didn't get where I am today by acting like a decorated dodo. If you want to make it in this business, you'd better know how to play with the boys who run everything. Plus, I have an assistant who keeps me informed on all these social media and digital toys - I hate talking on the phone, as it is. Running your own production company and making films doesn't leave much time for texting or tweeting - Yes, thanks - Mother wants to run through that again, children!"

Feeling like I'm rushing to catch a high-speed jet, I attempt to get back on track, "What do you think of this year's winners?"

Ida lets out a bitter laugh, "Don't get me started, darling!  The ASS is just another Hollywood production, designed to steer audiences towards the Academy’s 'favorite winners' before the Academy's voting deadline. Since the 2014 Academy voting deadline was February 25, Academy members - mostly white males over 50 - (a lazy lot) simply voted for the winners announced at the Golden Globes on February 12 and the SAG awards on February 18. I mean we're talking about an industry that still can't nominate even a single female director for a damn Oscar!"


Picture
Noticing my shocked look, this talented director and actress - who was never nominated as either an actress or director - pats my hand.   "Remember Mother's words of wisdom about Hollywood - it's all an illusion - everything you see, read, or hear - is fake, false, and yes - totally fascinating."

I refer to my notes about the development of the award shows: When the Academy Awards were created 86 years ago, the mythology of celebrating cinematic creativity was born. The American film industry was flush with cash from the weekly 90 million film-goers, until the numbers began to dramatically shift with the advent of television in 1948. By then the Golden Globe awards had been honoring "outstanding achievements in film and television" for four years. Hollywood had to scramble to create more buzz to sell their films and related merchandise, so Tinsel Town embraced the new medium by televising the first Oscar show in 1953 and the Award Show Season was born. The formation of the BAFTAs in 1967, the Independent Spirit Film Awards in 1984, and the SAG awards in 1995 have joined the monolithic advertising machine that now gobbles up every facet of the global film industry - with Award Show Season as it's featured presentation.

Picture
As the sun begins to climb higher, I'm aware that Ms. Ida Lupino's attention has narrowed to her set. Feeling dispirited by these cold facts, I ask her if she has any closing thoughts.

She gently laughs, allowing herself a moment of motherly indulgence, "Learn this dear, I was only the second woman to join the Director's Guild - I was known as the poor man's Don Siegel, for heaven's sake! I pushed my way in the door, learning the craft from the guys. Hell - I'd love to see more women working as directors and producers. Today it's almost impossible to do it unless you are an actress or writer with power. So nothing's changed in Hollywood, because women have allowed it to remain the same." 

Looking at the rising sun, she barks towards her actors, "Darlings - Mum's in a bad spot, I want to get the camera over there." As Ms. Lupino turns towards me, I sense it's for the final time. "If I hadn't owned my own production company, it would've been difficult for me to direct. This glass ceiling that these new girls keep cryin' about is still there because they spend all their time bitchin', instead of doing it like the guys. What is that phrase I keep hearing? 'Put on your big girl panties, shut up, and get to work.' " 

As Ida Lupino leans forward in her director's chair towards the set, she tosses me a final nugget, "Darling, I'm too damn busy creating to care if some old farts hand me a statue for my work - it's not even a genuine gold statue. That's Hollywood!" 

Laughing, I take heart that someday my sisters in Hollywood will get the memo.


Picture
Note: Ida Lupino - actress, director, writer, and producer - carved out a successful career in film and television. As an actress, she usually played hard-bitten women who - like herself in Hollywood - took no prisoners and suffered no fools. Her acting credits include such gems as High Sierra, They Drive By Night (my personal favorite - featured on the NOIR GREATS page), Ladies in Retirement, The Hard Way, The Big Knife, Hard, Fast, and Beautiful. Ms. Lupino's films as a director leaned towards low budget film noir and B thrillers, like Outrage, The Hitch-Hiker, and The Bigamist. 

Often described as a pioneer in her craft, Ida Lupino examined female-driven themes that included rape, unwed mothers, bigamy, codependency, and other social issues. She acted, wrote, directed, and produced her own films through her film production company, The Filmakers. Like her male counterpart, John Cassavetes, Ida actively worked on the small screen to help finance her films, as both an actress and guest-director. *

*Wikipedia_Ida Lupino


BrightLightsFilm.com. "Ida Lupino : Demon Mother Night", May 2009 | Issue 64  
Copyright © 2014 by Dan Callahan


COPYRIGHT 2012/2022. Paulette Reynolds.  All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds.  All intellectual and creative rights reserved.  
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.