Tonight's Movie: Woman in Hiding (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

This fall has been a wonderful time for Ida Lupino fans, thanks to Kino Lorber. Having previously released the four-film Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection, consisting of films directed by Lupino, Kino has now released WOMAN IN HIDING (1950) on Blu-ray.

Lupino stars in the title role in WOMAN IN HIDING, a Universal Pictures film which was previously released on DVD in the TCM Vault Collection.

It's a well-done "woman in peril" film with a crackerjack opening, as Lupino drives a wildly careening car underneath the opening credits, culminating in the car flying off the road into a river.

The viewer soon learns that Deborah Chandler Clark (Lupino) survived the crash but is hiding from her homicidal hubby Selden Clark (Stephen McNally), having fled from him on their wedding night. Unbeknownst to Deborah, hubby anticipated her escape and cut the brake line.

Selden had previously pushed Deborah's father (John Litel) off a catwalk at the Chandlers' company (!), then married Deborah so he could own the business. Deborah learns all this when she and Selden arrive at their honeymoon destination only to find Selden's mistress Patricia (Peggy Dow) waiting there, very unhappy that Selden married someone else and ready to let Deborah know just what a mess she's walked into.

While on the road hiding from Selden, Deborah meets Keith Ramsey (Howard Duff), a veteran still finding his way back into civilian life; he's a "college man" but currently working at a bus depot magazine stand while he figures out his future.

Keith initially thinks Deborah is emotionally unstable and wants to help her husband find her so that Deborah will get the "care" she needs...will he realize his mistake too late?

There's nothing especially unique about the film, but Lupino is always compelling. Additionally, I love Universal films of this era, which are typically well plotted and packed with interesting casts; in addition to the Lupino and other actors previously mentioned, there's even Peggie Castle in a bit role as a waitress who works alongside Lupino in a diner. It's simply a very enjoyable 92 minutes of suspenseful melodrama.

Lupino and Duff married the year after this film was released. Curiously, I felt that Duff looks somewhat younger than Lupino here, but in reality he was half a decade older! I suspect it may be due to the shorter early '50s hairstyle which had an "aging effect" on so many actresses of this era. She was only about 31 when this was filmed.

WOMAN IN HIDING was directed by Michael Gordon. Roy Huggins of MAVERICK and THE ROCKFORD FILES fame adapted James Webb's SATURDAY EVENING POST story, which was then turned into a screenplay by Oscar Saul.

The black and white photography was by William Daniels.

The supporting cast includes Taylor Holmes, Don Beddoe, Irving Bacon, and Angela Clarke. If IMDb can be believed, Tony Curtis is the voice of the bus driver, Dave Shaw, played by William Val. I'll have to take another look and listen!

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray looks quite nice. Extras on the Blu-ray are a commentary track by Kat Ellinger and a gallery of four trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.