She was, of course, a woman director in a man’s world, but beyond that her films deserve to be rediscovered because they are so substantial, stylish and bold, with an idealistic view of society that seems hopeful even now. Lupino often took on social issues that were usually taboo. Her two best films are Outrage and Not Wanted (1949), about a single woman who becomes pregnant. Never Fear (also 1949) deals with the polio epidemic. All her films offer compassion for their heroines, and vehemently criticise the judgemental society around them. Artistically, Lupino’s noir style gives full voice to her characters’ inner turmoil as well as the frightening physical reality of their situations.

A woman’s choice

Lupino fell into directing her first film. Frustrated at being typecast in those tough-dame roles, she refused to renew a long-term contract with Warner Brothers, and started writing and producing, beginning with Not Wanted. When that film’s original director, the forgotten Elmer Clifton, had a heart attack a few days into shooting, Lupino, already on set and eager to protect her own work, took over. In many ways, she was a woman of her time, with a fist-in-the-velvet-glove approach. She wasn’t credited as director on Not Wanted, although it has always been known that she took charge. “Heavens, no! I wouldn’t think of directing,” she told a Los Angeles Daily News reporter who observed her on the set. He wrote: “It’s difficult to tell just what she’s doing if it isn’t directing.”