Ida Lupino

Birth Name: Ida Lupino

Birthdate: February 4, 1928

Number of Films Ida Lupino Made with Humphrey Bogart:  3

The Lowdown

Ida Lupino was great at playing the bad girl that had the stamina to keep after any man she fancied.  Whether it was Bogart in High Sierra or George Raft in They Drive by Night, Lupino was able to pull off an alluring danger alongside of her costars that was all but impossible to resist.  Is it hard to blame them?  The woman was built from little more than sheer cloth and sex appeal.  I can easily forgive Alan Hale for not seeing the warning signs before his murder at Lupino’s hands in They Drive by Night – it was a short marriage, but I’m guessing he had some fun!

Making her way to the United States from England in 1934, Lupino worked her way up from small film roles, to starring alongside of some of Hollywood’s biggest leading men, and finally capped off her career with a long string of television work in some of the 60’s and 70’s best TV shows.

The Filmography

They Drive by Night – 1940

Lupino Plotting Away in the Middle of Alan Hale and George Raft

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Lupino plays Lana Carlsen, the femme fatale that bumps off her husband, Alan Hale, so that she can go after George Raft.  Lupino is lots of fun here as she smolders away, doing whatever it takes to keep the money she married into while making advances on a man who wants nothing to do with her.  The moment where she makes the decision to leave her husband in the garage with the car running is perhaps one of Lupino’s all-time best scenes.  There’s just a moment of realization that flashes across her eyes and a short pause in her step before passing the garage door sensor that will seal Hale’s fate.  Director Walsh and Lupino put together a wonderful little murder scene, and doggone it if she doesn’t look magnificent the entire time!  You can read my original write up on the film here.

High Sierra – 1941

Lupino plays Marie, the bad girl who’s pining away for Bogart while Bogart pines away for Joan Leslie. Lupino does a great job of not overdoing the role, slowly making advances towards Bogart with patience and just the right amount of manipulation. They have good chemistry together, and I would have been happy if Bogart had ridden off into the sunset with her at the end.  I really liked Lupino here, and she gets to run a whole gamut of heartbreaking emotions alongside of Bogart, even stealing the last scene from Hollywood’s greatest leading man!  You can read my original write up on the film here.

Thank Your Lucky Stars – 1943

Olivia de Havilland, George Tobias, and Lupino Cutting a Rug

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Lupino plays herself, alongside of Olivia de Havilland and George Tobias singing “The Dreamer.”  Lupino is great here as she hams it up with her partners, all dolled up in a poofy dress with a big bow in her hair and dancing like crazy.  Introduced with great misdirection as one of Hollywood’s more dramatic stars, the song and dance that follows is anything but serious – and it’s wonderful fun.  It’s hard not to fall a little bit for Lupino in this brief cameo as we get to see a more fun loving side of her than we usually get from her films.  While she never shares the screen with Bogart, it’s still well worth your time to check her out in a lighter moment from her career.  You can read my original write up on the film here.

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