User:Cecrais/sandbox

= Ida Lupino Article Draft =

Early Life and Family
·   (Interview in Hollywood, “I Planned to Die” by Ida Lupino as told to Dora Albert (November 1942, p. 28) discusses her experience with infantile paralysis (polio) and its affect on her life as an actress, suicidal thoughts, her relationship with her mother which brings forth a possible reason for her emphasis on the role of woman/mother.) -- discuss how the controversy surrounding Lupino's directorial style and reputation about her insistence on being called "Ma" and her focus on the role of women and motherhood can possibly relate to this interview.

·     Biographies of Paramount Players and Directors 1936-1937 (p. 73-74). Paramount Player biography on Lupino that discusses her family history in more depth. -- add this information about her family life and career.

By the age of ten, Lupino had memorized the leading female roles in each of Shakespeare's plays. After her intense childhood training for stage plays, Ida's uncle, Lupino Lane, assisted her in moving towards film acting by getting her work as a background actor at British International Studios.

Personal Life
Ida Lupino struggled with her polio diagnosis to the point that she contemplated suicide. Her first attack was quite severe and she feared that it would result in permanent paralysis. Ida Lupino was one of the first members of Hollywood to be diagnosed with polio in 1934. The New York Times reported that they believed the mild outbreak of polio within the Hollywood community was due to contaminated swimming pools. She experienced frequent bouts of the disease that severely affected her ability to work, and her contract with Paramount fell apart shortly after her diagnosis. Despite her health problems, Lupino was able to direct, produce, and write many films. The disease came back multiple times throughout her career as both an actress and a director. Her experience with severe attacks of polio and the possibility of paralysis gave Lupino the courage to focus on her intellectual abilities over simply her physical appearance. In an interview with Hollywood, Lupino said, "I realized that my life and my courage and my hopes did not lie in my body. If that body was paralyzed, my brain could still work industriously...If I weren't able to act, I would be able to write. Even if I weren't able to use a pencil or typewriter, I could dictate." Film magazines from the 1930's and 1940's, such as The Hollywood Reporter and Motion Picture Daily, frequently published updates on her condition. Lupino worked for various non-profit organizations to help raise funds for polio research.

- MULTIPLE SOURCES on polio: Ida Lupino had polio when she was a young child and it frequently came back --continued throughout her lifetime. **IMPORTANT: Her film Never Fear (The Young Lovers) was about a young dancer who was crippled with polio. There is a tie here between the two -- find more - She even recorded a talk alongside other actors for the Infantile Paralysis Drive in 1934
 * https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/opinion/25iht-oldjune25.html http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/screen-actress-ida-lupino-77-dead-stroke-article-1.703998
 * http://www.archive.org/stream/modernscreen2223unse#page/n773/mode/2up/search/infantile+paralysis
 * http://www.archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai35unse_0#page/30/mode/2up/search/infantile+paralysis
 * http://www.archive.org/stream/radiotelevision00macf#page/28/mode/2up/search/infantile+paralysis
 * http://www.archive.org/stream/hollywoodreporte1821holl#page/1514/mode/2up/search/infantile+paralysis

Actress
Ida Lupino worked as both a stage and screen actress. She first took to the stage in 1934 as the lead in the Pursuit of Happiness at the Paramount Studio Theatre.

Her performance as the lead in Her First Affaire was critically acclaimed.

·     The Hollywood Reporter (April 28, 1934) Lupino in Stage Lead for the Pursuit of Happiness, there is no talk of her work as a stage actress on her Wikipedia page. -- discuss the variety of her work, she practically worked in every role of the industry (film actress, stage actress, director, producer, writer) then continue on to discuss the difficulty she faced in order to get to be a female director with...

Ida Lupino was brought from her native England to Hollywood to play the role of Alice in Alice in Wonderland. The executives at Paramount ultimately decided to go with a different actress for the role. Subsequently, Lupino decided to change her look and go for more varied roles.

·     Modern Screen: How to Stay in Style (December 1936-November 1937, p. 38-39). Discusses the fact that Lupino had to change her appearance in order to get roles after being rejected for Alice in Wonderland. -- further emphasize the hurdles she had to endure as an actress.

Director, producer, and writer
The Motion Picture Production Code administration frequently called issue with Ida Lupino's works. Due to her continuous focus on unwed mothers and marriage, the PCA found issue with these themes and sent her frequent memos asking to change these controversial aspects of her films.

·     Motion Picture Production Code Memo about Not Wanted (1949) details the issues with the depiction of unwed motherhood and her coming up against the PCA. -- find more MPPC memos and discuss the constant push against the feminist themes in her films.

In 1950, Lupino was the only female member of the Director's Guild of America.

Themes
Lupino was intent on creating films that were rooted in reality. On Never Fear, Lupino said, "People are tired of having the wool pulled over their eyes. They pay out good money for their theatre tickets and they want something in return. They want realism. And you can't be realistic with the same glamorous muggs on the screen all the time."

·     Showmen’s Trade Review (May 14, 1949, p. 32) “Public Seeks Realism in Movies, Says Ida Lupino.”

Composer
While on bedrest due to polio in 1935, Lupino composed the "Aladdin Suite", which was featured on Gordon Jenkins' Little Old Hollywood radio hour.

= Proposal = Ida Lupino

I am very interested in doing archival research on Ida Lupino. There are many useful and interesting articles/interviews in Hollywood magazines in the Media History Digital Library on Ida Lupino’s work that I feel would add a great deal to her Wikipedia page. For example, in an interview in Hollywood with Lupino in 1942, she explains her experience with infantile paralysis and its affect on her life: acting, suicidal thoughts, her relationship with her mother. These interviews and articles are integral to her work as both an actress and director and are largely missing from this page. I plan to add more about her personal life through these interviews as well as add information on both the films she starred in and directed by performing archival research.

·     Interview in Hollywood, “I Planned to Die” by Ida Lupino as told to Dora Albert (November 1942, p. 28) discusses her experience with infantile paralysis and its affect on her life as an actress, suicidal thoughts, her relationship with her mother which brings forth a possible reason for her emphasis on the role of woman/mother,

·     Motion Picture Production Code Memo about Not Wanted (1949) details the issues with the depiction of unwed motherhood and her coming up against the PCA.

·     Showmen’s Trade Review (May 14, 1949, p. 32) “Public Seeks Realism in Movies, Says Ida Lupino.” There is no discussion of her directorial style on Lupino’s Wikipedia page. This clearly states her intent on producing films rooted in realism.

·     The Hollywood Reporter (April 28, 1934) Lupino in Stage Lead for the Pursuit of Happiness, there is no talk of her work as a stage actress on her Wikipedia page.

·     Biographies of Paramount Players and Directors 1936-1937 (p. 73-74). Paramount Player biography on Lupino that discusses her family history in more depth.

·     Modern Screen: How to Stay in Style (December 1936-November 1937, p. 38-39). Discusses the fact that Lupino had to change her appearance in order to get roles after being rejected for Alice in Wonderland.

Filmmaker Research Project

1)    Ida Lupino

2)    Maya Deren

3)    Leontine Sagan

I absolutely loved going through the online archives of film magazines. One of the benefits of researching in these older film magazines is they really add historical context to both the films and the world the directors are living in. What I found that was quite unique with my research on Ida Lupino was an article in which she speaks about her life and traumatic events, specifically infantile paralysis, that have affected her greatly. I think this provides really interesting insight into her world and her role as a director. She speaks about her relationship with her mother and it provides interesting context to her emphasis on being a “mother” as a director. It was interesting to see how many times these directors were mentioned in these magazines, yet never expanded upon. Many times it was simply an announcement about their film and it took quite a bit of time to actually find articles that focus on the director.

Ida Lupino

·     Interview in Hollywood, “I Planned to Die” by Ida Lupino as told to Dora Albert (November 1942, p. 28) discusses her experience with infantile paralysis and its affect on her life as an actress, suicidal thoughts, her relationship with her mother which brings forth a possible reason for her emphasis on the role of woman/mother,

·     Motion Picture Production Code Memo about Not Wanted (1949) details the issues with the depiction of unwed motherhood and her coming up against the PCA.

·     Showmen’s Trade Review (May 14, 1949, p. 32) “Public Seeks Realism in Movies, Says Ida Lupino.” There is no discussion of her directorial style on Lupino’s Wikipedia page. This clearly states her intent on producing films rooted in realism.

·     The Hollywood Reporter (April 28, 1934) Lupino in Stage Lead for the Pursuit of Happiness, there is no talk of her work as a stage actress on her Wikipedia page.

Maya Deren

·     Cinema (Hollywood) “The Avan Garde” (August 1947 “p. 12, 13) (Taken from Introductory Notes to Art in Cinema, by Richard Foster and Frank Stauffacher) discusses Maya Deren’s use of simple film technology and how it reshapes the idea of cinema.

·     Movie Makers “Creative Cutting” by Maya Deren (May 1947, p. 190-191), this is listed as a written work in her Wikipedia page, yet they simply list the name and do not expand upon it.

·     Experiment in the Film, Avant-Garde Production in America (1949, pp. 133-151), this section on Maya Deren goes into deep focus on her films in a way that is not seen in the Wikipedia page! He discusses her work in the context of the time period and the war.

Leontine Sagan

·     Close Up “Four Films From Germany” (Berlin, January, p. 39-40), feature on Madchen in Uniform, speaks about the film and its reception in depth and also says that it won the annual vote in the newspaper “Der Deutsche where nearly all the German film critics of renown and prominent personalities of Germany and abroad are asked which film most impressed them, the film Madchen in Uniform held the winning number of votes.” Then goes into explain it – would be helpful to discuss its popular reception on Wikipedia.

·     Cinema Quarterly (p. 112) “Films of the Quarter” discusses Sagan’s ability to shift a play to the screen and do the adaptation very well.

·     The Film Answers Back: An Historical Appreciation of the Cinema (p. 170), Discusses the Prussian and Nazi themes of Madchen – which is not discussed in her Wikipedia page

Article Evaluation: Greta Gerwig
 * I believe that everything in the article is relevant to her life and her work as a director, writer, and actor.
 * The article is neutral
 * There is more that could be written about her writing and her early life
 * The links work and support the claims in the article
 * The references such as the New York Times are reliable, but I would argue that some references from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, etc. could possibly carry bias as these magazines both report fact and offer personal opinion.
 * This is very up to date
 * There is conversation as to whether or not to include the section on Gerwig's political controversy with Adalah-NY
 * There are currently three WikiProjects involved: Biography/ Actors and Filmmakers, California, and Women Writers
 * They way we speak about a woman's role in film is much more nonpartisan. In class we focus on analysis and personal opinion in a way that does not have adhere to the policies of Wikipedia

Lupino did not enjoy being an actress and felt uncomfortable with many of the roles she was given. She felt that she was pushed into the profession due to her family history.