Ida Lupino’s Prescient “Outrage” in The New Yorker posted by Richard Brody.

[RiffRandell]

Has anyone seen this movie? I've never heard of this woman or the movie until today.

“Outrage,” a Hollywood movie from 1950, looks intimately, painfully, and analytically at what we now know to call rape culture. It’s one of the crucial movies of the era, and it’s not easy to find. It was directed by Ida Lupino, who is familiar as one of the hard-edged and worldly-wise actresses of the forties and fifties (I’d especially recommend “The Man I Love,” “On Dangerous Ground,” “While the City Sleeps,” and “The Big Knife”), but she was also one of the great directors of the time.

But “Outrage” is a special artistic achievement. Lupino approaches the subject of rape with a wide view of the societal tributaries that it involves. She integrates an inward, deeply compassionate depiction of a woman who is the victim of rape with an incisive view of the many societal failures that contribute to the crime, including legal failure to face the prevalence of rape, and the over-all prudishness and sexual censoriousness that make the crime unspeakable in the literal sense and end up shaming the victim. Above all, she reveals a profound understanding of the widespread and unquestioned male aggression that women face in ordinary and ostensibly non-violent and consensual courtship. Her movie is about the experiences of one young woman and, yes, about the experience of all women.

The movie isn’t available on DVD or via the usual streaming services; it was broadcast on TCM last Thursday and can be viewed, until this Thursday, on the Watch TCM app, for cable subscribers whose providers make the service available.

The emotional power and political vision of “Outrage” arise as much from Lupino’s inspired images as from the wise and insightful script and the delicately controlled yet freely expressive performances—not the work of great actors but of attentive and sensitive ones who have the benefit of Lupino’s discerning direction. It’s a haunting, infuriating movie—and it’s not available on DVD or, to the best of my knowledge, on streaming services.

Link: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2014/06/an-early-important-film-about-rape-culture.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[msongs]

1. its is available on youtube in 3 parts in series......

each part has less than 300 views

[RiffRandell]

2. Thank you.

Have you seen it? The woman seems very accomplished for the times and as a director. I took a film class in college and (unless I'm forgetting) never heard of her.

[ismnotwasm]

3. Thanks

I like older topical movies like this, I'm looking forward to watching it

[msongs]

4. just watched it, well done, no hysterics or outrageous cooked up behavior. well done and Ida

Lupino was one of the earliest woman directors with a successful career. You can read about her at wikipedia or allmovie.com

[RiffRandell]

8. Thanks!

I'm going to check it out.

[MFM008]

5. Look for her in the movies onscreen as well

I liked her in the 1939 'Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' with Basil Rathbone.

[seaglass]

6. I have definitely heard the name Ida Lupino - from my mom most likely - but have not seen any

of her movies. Looks interesting - thanks for the post.

[RiffRandell]

7. You're welcome.

I'm going to watch it at some point, but like I said I'm surprised I never heard of her as I'm quite the film buff.

[seaglass]

9. I am so not a film buff - probably the only person you'll meet over the age of 25 who has never seen

Casablanca or It's a Wonderful Life. I know, how is that possible??? I plan on watching them all when I retire.

[RiffRandell]

10. Yikes!

I loved them both, but I also watch a lot of indie films...my sister is really into older classics like Breakfast at Tiffany's (or anything with Audrey Hepburn) and this is kind of embarrassing but last week I came across this documentary on the tv about the making of Saturday Night Fever, and watched it.

I was too young to see it when it came out in the theaters (of course saw it several times later) but learned that John Travolta had several creative differences with the director; the studio wanted them to edit the use of the F-word but the guy financing it originally refused but did so when it ran on tv years later.

Also, Travolta was mad as they filmed his big solo dance only from the head up, so they changed that which I have to agree with. No matter if you loved or hated Disco, that was a great dance scene.

Of course they mentioned the Bee-Gees as they released the album to coordinate with the film...okay, enough of me...sorry! I could talk movies all day long.

Have you at least seen Gone with the Wind?

[seaglass]

17. Yes, I have seen GWTW and even the Wizard of Oz :-).

I don't go to the movies or rent movies so mostly what I see is what is on cable. And if it's a movie I like I watch it multiple times (right now obsessed with Pitch Perfect which I've seen about 4 times, also admit to being a fan of the Hangover movies). Maybe I just have lowbrow taste .

I remember when Saturday Night Fever came out - I was living in CA at the time which was not nearly as discofied as the East Coast was. I liked the movie, never liked disco but put up with it when I moved back to MA - yikes, all my "hippie" friends turned sparkly on me - talk about culture shock! Surprised that there was enough material to have a "making of" documentary - that's pretty funny.

[RiffRandell]

19. I watch most movies on Directv.

My husband travels a lot; I suffer from insomnia so we have the top package with all the movie channels so I'll find obscure stuff in the middle of the night. When he's home he has to mow the lawn (I have bad knees but he just taught our son last weekend to mow) or do other house projects so we rarely make it to the theater, but we took the kids to Godzilla opening weekend and we all loved it.

I loved Pitch Perfect...really cute and funny; I think Anna Kendrick is very talented. Actually, the entire cast was great. A sequel is in the works, btw.

Loved the first Hangover movie but not the second one. I'll re-watch movies over and over if I liked them and nothing else is on.

Argo is a great example...watched it again the other night for at least the tenth time...another great cast.

Props for seeing The Wizard of Oz...my kids have yet to see it in it's entirety.

[MadrasT]

14. raises hand sheepishly

I have never seen Casablanca or It's A Wonderful Life either. I tried watching both and got bored.

Love old Errol Flynn movies though. And Gene Kelly.

I Gene Kelly.

[redqueen]

11. Wow. Definitely watching this later.

Above all, she reveals a profound understanding of the widespread and unquestioned male aggression that women face in ordinary and ostensibly non-violent and consensual courtship.

So interesting. Figures the movie has been almost forgotten. Thanks for posting this.

[RiffRandell]

12. You're welcome.

I follow The New Yorker on Twitter and it popped up yesterday, found it very interesting and wanted to share. Pretty disappointing that I didn't learn about her in my film class in college, although that was over 20 years ago so I could have forgotten, but I think I would have remembered her name and the subject of the film as not only was she a famous actress but also a director, which was highly unusual for that time period, I would think.

That's what I love about The New Yorker; I always find myself learning something new and interesting from the past and present on various subjects. They also have great book recommendations. This is one I read years ago that they gave a great review on...I've recommended it to several of my friends, sisters, my Mom, my Grandmother and they all loved it...men would enjoy it too. The author is obviously liberal as it's set in the eighties and several negative comments about Reagan are made by one of the main characters:

http://www.amazon.com/Center-Everything-Novel-Laura-Moriarty/dp/B000ETQQ3C/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403024269&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=the+ecnter+of+everything

Thanks for the rec!

[theHandpuppet]

13. Been a fan for a long time

Being a sci-fi geek, I first became "aware" of Ms Lupino many years ago as the only woman to have directed an episode of "The Twilight Zone". After that I made a point of looking for her work.

She was a really talented director suited to film noir. I saw two of her movies on TCM this week - Outrage and The Hitch-hiker. I think they also ran High Sierra but I missed it. She was a real pioneer and a champion for women behind the camera. As I recall, when she was admitted to the Director's Guild she was one of only two women members.

[RiffRandell]

15. Being a huge Zone fan I thought I had seen every episode but don't

remember that one. Will have to catch it on the next marathon or youtube; thanks for the heads up.

The Hitch-Hiker looks great...never saw that one either but I did see The Hitcher with C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer, and I have to admit, I liked it. Hey, I was 16!

[theHandpuppet]

18. I believe the film is availble on YouTube, actually

To me, "The Hitch-Hiker" had a real Zone feel to it so I can see why she was such a natural fit to direct an episode of that series.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. I haven't seen it, but thanks to msongs I'm going to watch it this weekend...

I'd never heard of it or Lupino before, but I've got a soft spot for movies from the 40s and 50s, so I'll sit down and watch this one