For a filmmaker as prolific and well-regarded as actress-turned-director Ida Lupino, her legacy does not loom as large as many of her (male) contemporaries, even considering that she worked outside the studio system in the era when the big players overwhelmingly dominated. While Lupino may not have imagined how future generations would see her films, she was keenly aware of how she was perceived in the director’s chair and often adopted a persona that would guarantee respect: that of the mother.

The title of Julia Kuperberg and Clara Kuperberg’s documentary immediately and slyly contextualises Lupino’s place and output in 1940s to 1960s Hollywood. IDA LUPINO: GENTLEMEN AND MISS LUPINO notes her exceptional professional status, one seen as lesser in her day (and arguably now, considering the lack of place her output is given in the canon) and yet an unimpeachably proper presence. The film explores how her early work as a starlet – and her deliberate swerve away from the image – built relationships in Hollywood that she was able to leverage as she moved behind the scene, securing funding for daring pictures studios could not (or would not) touch during the Hayes Code era.

“Talking through each beat of the opening of OUTRAGE may feel like over-explanation, but it proves an illuminating dissection of the filmmaking craft.”

Stylistically, the documentary is straightforward: interviews with today’s filmmakers and film historians are intercut with footage from Lupino’s films and her behind-the-scenes work with actors on set. These selections are judiciously constructed, heightening Lupino’s framing and subject matter with insights into her life (her childhood polio, her staunch if not inflexible Catholicism, and her unwavering liberal Democrat stances). Talking through each beat of the opening of OUTRAGE may feel like over-explanation, but it proves an illuminating dissection of the filmmaking craft. Lupino’s deliberate choices and complicated, yet never provocative, angles are further explored in a long section on THE BIGAMIST; her choices stem from explorations of humanity and never a desire to shock. The film ends with Lupino’s work on The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, projects where she defined (or at least refined) their distinct style that lives in the popular imagination today.

This 50-minute documentary is a perfect place for Lupino newcomers or even those who know her trailblazing reputation but have not had the chance to track down her work. While perhaps little more than a glorified introduction to one of the 20th century’s great filmmaking talents, IDA LUPINO: GENTLEMEN AND MISS LUPINO is built with love. In a world where, once again, studio dominance seems all-pervasive, one hopes Lupino’s thoughtful, challenging pictures find an audience.