Directed by Ida Lupino
Best known as an actress, British-American screen star Ida Lupino (1918–1995) was also a pioneering filmmaker; she and Dorothy Arzner were the only female members of the Directors Guild of America during the classic studio era of the 1930s to the 1950s. Co-founder (with her husband) of the independent production company the Filmakers [sic], Lupino helmed low-budget movies addressing sensitive issues that Hollywood shunned (rape, bigamy, out-of-wedlock pregnancy). In the process, she achieved some notable “firsts,” including “first woman to direct a film noir” (The Hitch-Hiker) and “first woman to direct herself” (The Bigamist). We mark the centennial of Lupino’s birth with three of the best movies she directed. Each film $10, CMA members $7.

In this tense, taut thriller, two fishing buddies pick up a hitcher who turns out to be a psychopathic killer. The first noir movie directed by a woman may also be Lupino’s masterpiece.

A traveling salesman loves two women who each offer him something the other can’t. This provocative drama marks the only time Lupino directed herself in a movie.