Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward in “Ladies in Retirement”

Ladies in Retirement (1941) is an American gothic suspense film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward. The movie was based on the play of the same name by Reginald Denham and Edward Percy. The cinematography was by George Barnes who won an Academy Award the previous year for his work on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca.

The plot involves Ellen Creed (Lupino), a middle-aged spinster forced to work as a housekeeper/companion to Miss Leonora Fiske (Isobel Elsom), a wealthy retiree and former chorus girl in her youth. Ellen gets a letter about her two sisters Emily (Elsa Lanchester) and Louisa (Edith Barrett) who are odd, to put it mildly. The letter threatens to evict the sisters and send them to an institution.

Ellen suggests to Miss Fiske that her two sisters come for a visit. The visit turns disastrous with Miss Fiske ordering the sisters and Ellen to leave her home. To complicate matters, Albert Feather (Hayward), a distant relative shows up at the most inopportune moment.

Charles Vidor (1900 – 1959) was a Hungarian film director whose career started during the early days of talking pictures. Vidor is most famous for the work he did under contract to Columbia Pictures including Ladies in Retirement (1941), Cover Girl (1944), Together Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945), and Gilda (1946). After leaving Columbia, Vidor directed Hans Christian Andersen (1952) for Sam Goldwyn, Love Me or Leave Me (1955) for M-G-M, and The Joker is Wild (1957) for Paramount. Vidor suffered a heart attack and died three weeks into filming.

George Barnes (1892 – 1953) was an American cinematographer who began his career during the silent era and worked into the early 1950s. Barnes was competent in both black-and-white and color cinematography. He won an Academy Award for black-and-white photography in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940). Some other films Barnes photographed include Jesse James (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), Jane Eyre (1944), Spellbound (1945), Samson Delilah (1949), and The War of the Worlds (1953).

Lupino and Hayward at home with their dog

Ida Lupino (1918 – 1995) was an English-American actress, director, and producer. She appeared in over 50 films and was one of Warner Bros.’s biggest contract players during the 1940s starring in High Sierra (1941), The Sea Wolf (1941), and The Man I Love (1947). After she left Warner Bros., Lupino formed her own production company, producing, writing, and directing films that tackled subjects the big studios wouldn’t touch. During the 1950s, Lupino was the only female director working in Hollywood. She directed several small independent films but made a name for herself directing for television. Lupino directed episodes of The Twilight Zone (starred in one too), The Rifleman, Bonanza, Gilligan’s Island, It Takes a Thief, Family Affair, and Columbo. In 1966, she directed her one-and-only big-budget studio picture, The Trouble with Angels starring Rosalind Russell and Haley Mills.

Charles Laughton visits the set of Ladies in Retirement

Louis Hayward (1909 – 1985) was a British-American actor. He worked on the London stage under the tutelage of Noel Coward. He made some films in England in the early 1930s and came to Broadway in 1935 working with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Noel Coward’s Point Valaine. His Broadway fame brought him to Hollywood where he was cast in some minor roles before getting starring roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), My Son, My Son! (1940), and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Hayward was married to Ida Lupino from 1938 to 1945.

Ladies in Retirement trivia:

• Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward were married during the filming.
• Rosalind Russell was originally announced as the film’s lead.
• Lupino was 23 playing a woman in her mid-40s.
• The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture

Click HERE to watch the movie on YouTube.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on October 28, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation with a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Questions for discussion:

1. What genre would you classify this film?
2. Did Ida Lupino make a credible middle-aged woman?
3. Why do you think Miss Fiske gave money to Albert?
4. What did you make of the two “batty” sisters?
5. Did you have any sympathy for Ellen?

  

Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward in "And Then There Were None"

And Then There Were None (1945) is a mystery movie directed by Rene Clair and starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, and Louis Hayward. The film is an adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel of the same name. 

Eight strangers are invited to a small isolated island off the coast of Devon, England, by a Mr. and Mrs. Owen. Two newly-hired servants, Thomas and Ethel Rogers greet them to the secluded mansion, but their hosts are absent. As the guests sit down to dinner, they notice a centerpiece featuring figurines of ten Indians. Thomas plays a record and a man's voice accuses them all of the murder! 

Are they really all guilty? Is this all a cruel game concocted by the mysterious Mr. and Mrs. Owen?

Rene Clair (1898 - 1981) was a French film director and writer. He directed silent films in his native France but was lured to Hollywood where he directed five films. His first American film was The Flame of New Orleans (1941) starring Marlene Dietrich. The film was not a success and it would be a year before he made another American film. His most popular American film was And Then There Were None (1945) based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name. After World War II, Clair returned to France where he was considered one of that country’s best film directors.

Barry Fitzgerald (1888 – 1961) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in many notable films over four decades including Bringing Up  Baby (1938), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944), and The Quiet Man (1952). He was a member of the Abbey Theatre and made his film debut in Juno and the Paycock (1930) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Walter Huston (1883 - 1950) was a Canadian singer, stage, and film actor. He is also the patriarch of the Huston clan that includes his writer-director son John, and his granddaughter, actress Anjelica. Huston worked in the theater, with roles on Broadway where he made his debut in 1924. Once talking pictures began in Hollywood, Huston worked as both a leading man and also a character actor. Some of Huston’s films include The Virginian (1929), Rain (1932), Gabriel Over the White House (1933), The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, directed by his son John. Huston’s last film was The Furies (1950) co-starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey.

Louis Hayward (1909 – 1985) was a British-American actor. He worked on the London stage under the tutelage of Noel Coward. He made some films in England in the early 1930s and came to Broadway in 1935 working with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Noel Coward’s Point Valaine. His Broadway fame brought him to Hollywood where he was cast in some minor roles before getting starring roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), My Son, My Son! (1940), and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Hayward was married to Ida Lupino from 1938 to 1945.

To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.

To join the discussion on December 6, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and link to the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:

1. Agatha Christie's novel has been filmed over ten times, are you familiar with any of the other versions? If so, how does this version hold up?
2. Would you have guessed this was the same director who directed I Married a Witch and It Happened Tomorrow?
3. The film features many prominent character actors; did you have a favorite?
4. What did you think of the top-billed stars: Fitzgerald, Huston, and Hayward?
5. Did anything surprise you?

Ida Lupino headlines “Ladies in Retirement”

Ladies in Retirement (1941) is an American gothic suspense film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward. The movie was based on the play of the same name by Reginald Denham and Edward Percy. The cinematography was by George Barnes who won an Academy Award the previous year for his work on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca.

The plot involves Ellen Creed (Lupino), a middle-aged spinster who is forced to work as a housekeeper/companion to Miss Leonora Fiske (Isobel Elsom), a wealthy retiree and former chorus girl in her youth. Ellen gets a letter about her two sisters Emily (Elsa Lanchester) and Louisa (Edith Barrett) who are a bit odd, to put it mildly. The letter threatens to evict the sisters and send them to an institution.

Ellen suggests to Miss Fiske that her two sisters come for a visit. The visit turns disastrous with Miss Fiske ordering the sisters and Ellen to leave her home. To complicate matters, Albert Feather (Hayward), a distant relative shows up at the most inopportune moment.

Charles Vidor (1900 – 1959) was a Hungarian film director whose career started during the early days of talking pictures. Vidor is most famous for the work he did under contract to Columbia Pictures including Ladies in Retirement (1941), Cover Girl (1944), Together Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945), and Gilda (1946). After leaving Columbia, Vidor directed Hans Christian Andersen (1952) for Sam Goldwyn, Love Me or Leave Me (1955) for M-G-M, and The Joker is Wild (1957) for Paramount. Vidor suffered a heart attack and died three weeks into filming.

George Barnes (1892 – 1953) was an American cinematographer who began his career during the silent era and worked into the early 1950s. Barnes was competent in both black and white and color cinematography. He won an Academy Award for his black and white photography in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940). Some other films Barnes photographed include Jesse James (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), Jane Eyre (1944), Spellbound (1945), Samson Delialah (1949), and The War of the Worlds (1953).

Lupino and Hayward at home with their dog

Ida Lupino (1918 – 1995) was an English-American actress, director, and producer. She appeared in over 50 films and was one of Warner Bros.’s biggest contract players during the 1940s starring in High Sierra (1941), The Sea Wolf (1941), and The Man I Love (1947). After she left Warner Bros., Lupino formed her own production company, producing, writing, and directing films that tackled subjects the big studios wouldn’t touch. During the 1950s, Lupino was the only female director working in Hollywood. She directed several small independent films but really made a name for herself directing for television. Lupino directed episodes of The Twilight Zone (starred in one too), The Rifleman, Bonanza, Gilligan’s Island, It Takes a Thief, Family Affair, and Columbo. In 1966, she directed her one-and-only big-budget studio picture, The Trouble with Angels starring Rosalind Russell and Haley Mills.

Charles Laughton visits the set of Ladies in Retirement

Louis Hayward (1909 – 1985) was a British-American actor. He worked on the London stage under the tutelage of Noel Coward. He made some films in England in the early 1930s and came to Broadway in 1935 working with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Noel Coward’s Point Valaine. His Broadway fame brought him to Hollywood where he was cast in some minor roles before getting starring roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), My Son, My Son! (1940), and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Hayward was married to Ida Lupino from 1938 to 1945.

Ladies in Retirement trivia:

• Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward were married during the filming.
• Rosalind Russell was originally announced as the film’s lead.
• Lupino was 23 playing a woman in her mid-40s.
• The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture

To watch the film, click on the YouTube link below.

To join us on November 3, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. for a discussion on Zoom, visit the Chicago Film Club Meetup page.

Questions for discussion:

1. What genre would you classify this film?
2. Did Ida Lupino make a credible middle-aged woman?
3. Why do you think Miss Fiske gave money to Albert?
4. What did you make of the two “batty” sisters?
5. Did you have any sympathy for Ellen?

Screening of "Ladies in Retirement" at Daystar Center June 6

“Classic Movie Man’s Favorite” Series: Ladies in Retirement
Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street
When: June 6, 2017
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Hosted by Stephen Reginald

Ladies in Retirement (1941) was a hit on the Broadway stage with Flora Robson in the lead role. Director Charles Vidor brought it to the screen with an impressive cast headed by Ida Lupino. 

The story concerns Ellen Creed (Lupino) who is the paid companion to the wealthy Leonora Fiske (Isobel Elsom). When Ellen’s mentally challenged sisters (Elsa Lancaster and Edith Barrett) are kicked out of their London apartment, Ellen, with Leonora’s permission, invites them to stay with her for a “visit.” It doesn’t take long for things to go terribly wrong as Ellen’s batty older sisters disrupt the tranquility of Leonora’s home. Leonora reaches the end of her patience and orders Ellen’s sisters and Ellen herself to leave. With no income to take care of herself and her sisters, Ellen comes up with a desperate and diabolical plan.

The New York Times praised the film in its November 7, 1941 review. It said the film was “…beautifully photographed and tautly played, especially it’s central role…Give [Ida] Lupino the largest measure of credit, for her role is the clue to the suspense…she is none the less the thin ribbon of intensity that makes the film hair-raising.”

Elsa Lancaster, Ida Lupino, Edith Barrett

The impressive cast also includes Louis Hayward (Lupino’s husband at the time) as cousin Albert and Evelyn Keyes as Lucy the maid.