Let's Talk Westerns

WORLD WAR I STILL RAGED when Ida Lupino was born on February 4, 1918, in Camberwell, London, England. Her mother and father, Stanley Lupino and Connie Emerald Lupino, were a performing family. Queen Victoria called the Lupino family “The Royal Family of Greasepaint.”

Ida had a small uncredited part in The Love Race in 1931. Her first credited part came in 1932 in Her First Affaire. Her family moved to Hollywood in 1934, but her career hit a snag when she contracted a mild case of polio in May of that year. Supposedly, she caught the disease from a contaminated swimming pool. She was given a serum and recovered in a few months. After a string of small and insignificant roles playing lightweight ingenues, she walked out on a $1,700 a week contract, the equivalent of $34,200 today. Her big break came in 1939 when she shared the screen with Ronald Coleman and Walter Huston in The Light That Failed.

She shared the screen with some of the most popular stars of the time—Humphrey Bogart in the 1940 film High Sierra and again in the 1941 release, They Drive by Night. She appeared with John Garfield and Edward G. Robinson in The Sea Wolf and with Garfield in Out of the Fog, both released in 1943.

She was married three times in her life. The first marriage was to Louis Hayward. They married on November 16, 1938. In 1941, they made the film Ladies in Retirement together. They divorced on May 11, 1946. Ida married Collier Young on August 5, 1948. He was a writer/producer. He wrote the screenplay for The Bigamist, which Ida directed. Together, Collier and Ida wrote the screenplays for The Hitchhiker, Outrage, Never Fear, and Private Hell 36 after they divorced on October 20, 1951. She married Howard Duff on October 21, 1951. They had met in 1950 on the set for the movie Women in Hiding. They began a torrid love affair, and she was carrying his child when she divorced Collier Young. Bridget Mirella Duff was born on April 23, 1952. The couple separated in 1966 and divorced in 1984.

Ida became a U.S. citizen in 1948 and appeared in her first western, Lust for Gold, in 1949. The movie was actually two films in one with a unique double plot. Part of the film was in 1949 Arizona, with the western section told via flashbacks. It was the story of two men who searched for the Lost Dutchman Mine and starred Glenn Ford and Gig Young. The film co-starred Edgar Buchanan, Jay Silverheels, and Will Geer. Parts of the movie were filmed in Arizona around the Superstition Mountains and Weavers Needle.

IDA LUPINO, AN ENGLISH/AMERICAN ACTRESS ANDDIRECTOR, WAS ONLY THE SECOND WOMAN TO JOINTHE DIRECTOR’S GUILD.

Ida appeared as Louise Brandon in the anthology series Zane Grey Theatre in 1956 in the episode “Fearful Courage.” The episode also starred James Whitmore and Michael Pate. She next appeared as Anne O’Toole in the Bonanza episode “The Saga of Anne O’Toole.” The episode starred Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Alan Hale, Jr.

Death Valley Days was the second anthology western she appeared in. She played Pamela Mann in the episode “Pamela’s Oxen.” The episode starred James T. Callahan, James Coburn, and Robert Sorrels.

In 1963, Ida appeared as Helen Blaine in The Virginian episode “A Distant Fury.” The episode starred Gary Clarke, Howard Duff, and Joey Heatherton. She returned to The Virginian in 1965 for the role of Mama Dolores in the episode “We’ve Lost a Train.” This episode was the pilot for the series Laredo. The series starred Doug McClure and James Drury. Neville Brand, Peter Brown, William Smith, Phillip Carey, Rhonda Fleming, and L. Q. Jones guest starred.

She played Dr. Faustina in The Wild Wild West episode “The Night of the Big Blast” in 1966. The series starred Robert Conrad and Ross Martin with Mala Powers and Patsy Kelly appearing in the episode. She became a Batman villain in 1968, when she played Dr. Cassandra in two episodes of the pop culture show. She appeared in “The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra” with her husband Howard Duff and in an uncredited role as Dr. Cassandra in “The Joker’s Flying Saucer.”

LUPINO AS BATMAN VILLIAN DR. CASSANDRA IN THE 1966 EPISODE "THE ENTRANCING DR. CASSANDRA."

In 1969, Ida appeared in The Outcasts as Mrs. Blake in “The Thin Line” episode. The series starred Don Murray and Otis Young. Paul Fix and Harry Carey, Jr. also appeared in this episode. Her final appearance in a western series was in 1972 as Mia Bronson in the Alias Smith and Jones episode “What’s in it for Mia?” Ben Murphy and Roger Davis played Curry and Hayes. Buddy Ebsen appeared as George Austin.

She co-starred in the movie Junior Bonner, as Elvira Bonner in 1972. Junior Bonner was a rodeo cowboy who wanted to win the bull riding championship in his hometown. His father, Ace Bonner, returned to his family in Arizona after an absence of several years. This was a modern-day rodeo western. After the success of J. W. Coop, several rodeo-styled westerns appeared. The movie starred Steve McQueen as Junior Bonner. Robert Preston was his father, Ace. Ben Johnson, Joe Don Baker, Barbara Leigh, Bill McKinney, and Dub Taylor rounded out the cast.

Her final appearance in a western was in the TV movie, Female Artillery, as Martha Lindstrom. An outlaw on the run joined a wagon train of pioneer women and secretly hid money in one of the wagons. His old gang followed him. When they arrived, they wanted the money and the women. The movie starred Dennis Weaver, Sally Ann Howes, Linda Evans, Albert Salmi, and Nina Foch.

Ida spent considerable time in the director’s chair. She directed nine movies from 1949 t o 1966. Her first stint as a director, in an uncredited role, came in the film Not Wanted in 1949. She took over the director’s duties when the original director Elmer Clifton suffered a heart attack and couldn’t complete the picture. She was the second woman to become a member of the Director’s Guild, the first being Dorothy Arzner. She directed Never Fear and Outrage in 1950. Ida and her then husband, Collier Young, wrote the screenplay for both films. In 1951, she directed Hard, Fast, and Beautiful. The film starred Mala Powers and Tod Andrews.

Ida stepped in to finish the film On Dangerous Ground when director Nicholas Ray became ill. The film starred Ida, Robert Ryan, and Ward Bond. She directed two films in 1953, The Hitchhiker, written by Collier Young, and The Bigamist, written by Young and Ida. In the later film, she directed herself in a starring role. The Bigamist starred Joan Fontaine, Ida Lupino, Edmund Gwen, and Edmond O’Brien.

Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, and William Talman starred in The Hitchhiker. The movie was inspired by real life murderer Billy “Cockeyed” Cook who slaughtered six people in a killing spree.

Her next directing job came in 1958, when she directed the TV movie, Teenage Idol. This was the pilot for a situation comedy that didn’t get picked up by the network. A family became caught up in the craze over the latest teenage rock and roll sensation Swivelhips Jackson. It starred Darrell Hove, Patrick Wayne, and her then husband, Howard Duff. She directed her last movie in 1966, The Trouble with Angels. The family film starred Rosalind Russell, Haley Mills, and Binnie Barnes. This was Hayley Mills’s first movie after she left the Walt Disney Studio. Ida suffered bouts of heavy drinking for many years. During the filming, Ida’s drinking became intolerable. Rosalind called producer William Frye and shared her misgivings. Frye had a meeting with Ida, and she stopped drinking during the making of the picture.

She directed nearly a hundred episodes of various television shows during her career, such as Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, Honey West, Batman, The Fugitive, The Untouchables, and several westerns. She directed two episodes of Hotel de Paree. She directed The Man Who Believed in Law in 1959 and Sundown and the Boat Soldier in 1960. The series starred Earl Holliman as Sundown, the reformed gunslinger. It also starred Strother Martin and Jeanette Nolan.

From 1959 to 1961, Ida directed eight episodes of Have Gun-Will Travel. The series starred Richard Boone as the gunfighter, Paladin. She directed three episodes in 1959. The first was “The Man Who Lost.” The episode starred Mort Mills, Jack Elam, and Rodolfo Acosta. Next came “First, Catch a Tiger.” John Anderson and Pamela Lincoln guest starred in the episode. “Charley Red Dog” was her last directing chore for Have Gun-Will Travel in 1959. Scott Marlowe and Raymond Bailey also appeared in the episode.

In 1960, Ida directed four episodes of the popular show. The first was “The Day of the Badman.” William Joyce and Sue Randall also appeared in the episode. Her second episode starred Hank Patterson, Lillian Bronson. and Howard Petrie in “The Lady on the Wall.”

“Lady With a Gun” was the third episode she directed in 1960. The episode starred Paula Raymond and Jack Weston. In her final 1960 episode, “The Trial,” Robert Simon and Raymond Hatton appeared.

“The Gold Bar,” in 1961, was her final time behind the camera for Richard Boone. John Fiedler and Jean Engstrom guest starred in the episode. In a 1961 interview, Richard Boone stated “Ida stimulates me as an actor because she knows acting. In a weekly show you get into acting patterns. Ida gets you out of them.”

She also directed two episodes of the summer replacement show Tate in 1960. Tate was a Civil War veteran who was wounded at The Battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi. His left arm was useless, covered by a long leather glove and placed in a sling. He worked as a bounty hunter in the old west, traveling wherever he was needed. The series starred the Marlboro Man, David McLean, in the title role. In “The Mary Hardin Story,” the episode starred Mort Mills and Julia Adams. “Stopover” co-starred Bill Tennant, Vaughn Taylor, and Robert F. Simon. Ida directed one episode of The Rifleman in 1961 in the episode, “Assault.” Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, and Paul Fix starred in the series. The episode guest starred Linda Lawson.

In 1966, Ida directed an episode of The Virginian, “Dead Eye Dick.” A mother and her teenage daughter were visiting Medicine Bow. James Drury, Doug McClure, and Roberta Shore starred in the series. The guest stars in the episode were Alice Rawlings and William Schallert.

She directed “The King’s Shilling” for the 1967 episode of Daniel Boone with Fess Parker, Patricia Blair, Darby Hinton, and Dal McKinnon. Barbara Hershey and Mort Mills guest starred in the episode. She also directed an episode of Dundee and the Culhane in ‘67, in “Thy Brother’s Keeper Brief.” The series dealt with the adventures of two traveling lawyers in the west. John Mills, Lindy Davis, and William Fawcett appeared in the episode. She directed her final television episode in 1968 in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. The episode was ti- tled “Madeira, My Dear?” The series starred Hope Lange and Edward Mulhare.

Ida was the only woman to star in and direct an episode of the original Twilight Zone. In 1959 she starred in “The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine.” In 1964 she directed “The Masks”. She directed nine episodes of the anthology series, Thriller, which starred Boris Karloff as the host.

Her final appearance in a television show was in 1977, when she played Gloria Gibson in an episode of Charlie’s Angels. Her final movie appearance came in 1979, when she appeared as Mrs. Morton in My Boys are Good Boys with Ralph Meeker and Lloyd Nolan. Ida has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—one for her contributions to motion pictures, and one for her work on television. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career. Two for Mr. Adam’s and Eve, the weekly show she did with then husband, Howard Duff, and once for her role on Four Star Playhouse. In 1943, she won the New York Film Critics award for Best Actress for her role in The Hard Way. She also won a Saturn Award in 1976. She received The Golden Scroll for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the horror film, The Devil’s Rain. The movie starred Ernest Borgnine, William Shatner, Eddie Albert, and John Travolta. Toward the end of her career, Ida was nearly bald and wore a wig daily.

She won two National Board of Review awards for Moontide in 1942 and High Sierra and Ladies in Retirement in 1941. Two of the films she directed have been selected by the National Film Registry in conjunction with the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically pleasing. They are Outrage in 1950 and The Hitchhiker in 1953.

Ida’s alcohol use increased in the twilight of her career. Her alcohol problems on the set of The Trouble with Angels in 1966 cost her any additional opportunities to direct feature films. In 1972, her friend, Bob Finkel, asked her to be a presenter at the 1972 Academy Awards. The academy was honoring the career of Charlie Chaplin. She was staggering drunk when she arrived at the event. She arrived alone, and Finkel didn’t want her to appear on stage. To avoid the embarrassment, he locked her in a dressing room. She fell asleep on a couch. When the dressing room was needed, Finkel moved her to a mop closet. She didn’t wake up during the move and continued sleeping. Finkel forgot about her and didn’t let her out of the locked mop closet for an additional two hours after the show ended. When he unlocked the closet, Ida was still sleeping.

She was offered the role of Jessica Fletcher in the series Murder, She Wrote but turned it down due to her declining health.

Ida became reclusive after retirement, rarely venturing from her home. She wrote several short stories and children’s books during this time.

Ida Lupino died on August 3, 1995 of a stroke while battling colon cancer. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

—TERRY ALEXANDER and his wife, Phyllis, live on a small farm near Porum, Oklahoma. They have three children, thirteen grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. Terry is a member of The Oklahoma Writers Federation, Ozark Creative Writers, Tahlequah Writers, and Western Fictioneers. If you see him at a conference, though, don’t let him convince you to take part in one of his trivia games—he’ll stump you every time.