This is a little known classic from the film noir era of the '40's and early '50's. I had the privilege of seeing this movie listed in the TV guide only once and that was in the summer of 1984 on one of the local cable stations. Luckily, we had just purchased our first VCR and recorded it for posterity. I can watch this one over and over again without getting tired of it.
It's a simple plot with the usual sex-crime-greed ingredients that were common in these film noirs. And the cast is super! Howard Duff, Ida Lupino, Stephen McNally, John Litel, Peggy Dow and Taylor Holmes round off the principals featured in this movie. Also, look closely for Jerry Paris (of Dick Van Dyke fame)standing by the magazine counter!
Steve McNally plays Selden Clark, manager of a local mill owned by John Litel. McNally has a tryst with Peggy Dow and conspires to get control of the mill by pushing Litel off a catwalk inside the mill, then marrying the owner's daughter (Lupino), bumping her off and living happily ever after with Dow. Being the case with film noir, this doesn't pan out exactly as Selden Clark anticipates! Sure, he marrys the daughter, but she finds out (too late) that this guy is a psychotic bum. She manages to get away from him by stealing away in her 1946 Ford convertible (nice car!), but her brakes don't work due to some mechanical failure caused by her neer-do-well new husband. She manages to leap from the car before it crashes into the river. Everyone thinks that she's dead, but the body can't be found.
Selden is convinced that she's still alive somewhere and puts up a $5,000 reward for anyone who can produce her. Enter Howard Duff. Duff plays the catalyst in this film; at first thinking that she is a victim of amnesia, cheerfully (and alas) returning her to Selden. He then comes to his senses and manages to rescue her from Selden's clutches. It has a happy ending with Duff and Lupino getting married, as they actually did in real life.
It is amazing that this movie continues to be ignored. Many think that Ida Lupino was great in the early '40's in such films as They Drive By Night and High Sierra, but she was actually better by the late '40's and early 50's (The Man I Love, Road House, On Dangerous Ground, Private Hell 36) and was about to earn the distinction of being Hollywood's first female director (The Hitchhiker, The Bigamist, Not Wanted, Outrage). She was an incredible lady.
This chestnut is practically impossible to find even in bootleg form. Like many of the film noirs of this time period, Woman in Hiding continues to be neglected. This film certainly deserves to be recognized and marketed to the unsuspecting public. It seems that I have the only copy in captivity and it's not going to leave my collection any soon! Seriously folks, if you notice this one listed in the TV Guide, make a copy for your own personal collection. You won't be disappointed.
It's a simple plot with the usual sex-crime-greed ingredients that were common in these film noirs. And the cast is super! Howard Duff, Ida Lupino, Stephen McNally, John Litel, Peggy Dow and Taylor Holmes round off the principals featured in this movie. Also, look closely for Jerry Paris (of Dick Van Dyke fame)standing by the magazine counter!
Steve McNally plays Selden Clark, manager of a local mill owned by John Litel. McNally has a tryst with Peggy Dow and conspires to get control of the mill by pushing Litel off a catwalk inside the mill, then marrying the owner's daughter (Lupino), bumping her off and living happily ever after with Dow. Being the case with film noir, this doesn't pan out exactly as Selden Clark anticipates! Sure, he marrys the daughter, but she finds out (too late) that this guy is a psychotic bum. She manages to get away from him by stealing away in her 1946 Ford convertible (nice car!), but her brakes don't work due to some mechanical failure caused by her neer-do-well new husband. She manages to leap from the car before it crashes into the river. Everyone thinks that she's dead, but the body can't be found.
Selden is convinced that she's still alive somewhere and puts up a $5,000 reward for anyone who can produce her. Enter Howard Duff. Duff plays the catalyst in this film; at first thinking that she is a victim of amnesia, cheerfully (and alas) returning her to Selden. He then comes to his senses and manages to rescue her from Selden's clutches. It has a happy ending with Duff and Lupino getting married, as they actually did in real life.
It is amazing that this movie continues to be ignored. Many think that Ida Lupino was great in the early '40's in such films as They Drive By Night and High Sierra, but she was actually better by the late '40's and early 50's (The Man I Love, Road House, On Dangerous Ground, Private Hell 36) and was about to earn the distinction of being Hollywood's first female director (The Hitchhiker, The Bigamist, Not Wanted, Outrage). She was an incredible lady.
This chestnut is practically impossible to find even in bootleg form. Like many of the film noirs of this time period, Woman in Hiding continues to be neglected. This film certainly deserves to be recognized and marketed to the unsuspecting public. It seems that I have the only copy in captivity and it's not going to leave my collection any soon! Seriously folks, if you notice this one listed in the TV Guide, make a copy for your own personal collection. You won't be disappointed.