Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Spikeopath Woman in Hiding is directed by Michael Gordon and adapted to screenplay by Oscar Saul and Roy Huggins from a story by James Webb. It stars Ida Lupino, Stephen McNally, Howard Duff and Peggy Dow. Music is by Milton Schwarzwald and cinematography by William H. Daniels.After the mysterious death of her father, a quickfire marriage to a hugely suspicious man, and an attempt on her life, Deborah Chandler Clark (Lupino) is forced to assume a new identity and go into hiding...No great shakes as regards the plot line, it's a standard woman in peril piece, where we the viewers know what's going on and only really await for what we hope is a punchy resolution to it all. However, overcoming the simplicity of formula, it's a film nicely constructed and performed, with plenty of suspense, tightly wound anticipation and some very pleasing visual accompaniments.Opening with a guarded voice over from Lupino''s character, mood is nicely set at noir influenced. From here we quickly get to know the principle players and are quickly on Deborah's side. Peril and emotional pain is never far away with Gordon (The Web) and ace photographer Daniels (The Naked City) complicit in mood enhancements. Cue a cabin at nighttime bathed in oppressive moonlight, shadowed window bars striking facial menace - and as Deborah's peril grows greater - an imposing staircase ripe for a dastardly deed, Then we hit the last quarter of film and the quality really shines through. A steam train at night is grand, a splendid setting, but that is just a precursor to the exciting denouement at the deserted mill of Deborah's birthright. Daniels excels, his photography straight out of a noir fever dream, all while the industrial churning of the mill machinery adds impetus to the thrilling conclusion.It needed more of a black heart as per outcome to be a definitive noir pic, but it comes safely recommended to noir enthusiasts regardless. 7/10

kidboots In 1949 Ida Lupino had collaborated on an original story "Not Wanted" but things didn't go to plan, the director became sick and Ida stepped in to finish it herself. After that she was happy to go over to Universal-International for the suspenser "Woman in Hiding" taken from a Saturday Evening Post serial "Fugitive From Terror" by James R. Webb. She also met Howard Duff, a radio ("Sam Spade") and stage actor who had been in movies since 1946. He had replaced Ronald Reagan who had fractured his thigh and he also became Ida's new husband.This thriller gets off to a top gear start over the credits when Ida Lupino as Deborah Clarke, attempts to drive down a steep mountain road in a car whose brakes have been disabled. When the car plunges into the river and all seems lost Deborah's voice over begins a flashback as she accuses the seemingly grieving husband, Seldon Clark (Stephen McNally) of murder!!!Deborah is going to New York as she is fed up with Seldon's inattentiveness and her father has no time for him either, he says he comes from a long line of people he has no reason to be proud of. But Seldon has a determined mania to build up his once prosperous family name and make it great again. On the morning of her departure word comes that her father has had a fatal fall from the factory and, not surprisingly, Seldon is there to pick up the pieces. When the couple arrive at their honeymoon cabin they are met by Patricia (Peggy Dow), Seldon's cast off mistress and the way he attacks her should make Deborah have second thoughts. It is a highly dramatic scene as she tells Deborah a few home truths about her upstanding husband, like why he had been inattentive to her early on and even raising suspicions about her father's death. Deborah manages to run to the car but almost too late she realises she is soon to become Seldon's second victim.Ida Lupino's intense displays of fright and fear really carry this movie off. There is a splendid scene in a stairwell. Deborah has met Keith Ramsey (Duff), a college man working at a magazine counter, and really begins to trust again. Unfortunately Keith has seen an ad in the paper where her husband is begging for information about his "poor deranged wife" and Deborah's erratic behaviour has Keith believing in Seldon's story. He telephones Seldon giving him Deborah's location and suddenly Seldon is there, in the middle of a salesmen's convention, cornering her in a lonely stairwell. It is really a thrilling scene as McNally proved in "Johnny Belinda" he could be an unspeakable villain and he really lets all stops out when he is trying to throw Deborah down the stairs. Another great scene involves the climax which takes place at night in her father's factory. Deborah is fleeing an ambulance which has been ordered to take her to the local mental hospital. She hopes that with Patricia's help (after all she did witness Seldon's treatment of her in the cabin) she will have enough evidence to put Seldon in prison, but Patricia is still not over her infatuation of him.Although Ida puts both McNally and Duff in the shade, beautiful Peggy Dow makes the most of her scenes as the deluded Patricia. Dow could have been a major star, she was beautiful and sultry and proved in this movie, only her second, that she could handle dramatic scenes with verve but within a year she had retired for married life.

LeonLouisRicci This film is wound a bit too tight for its own good. Mostly because of the incredibly intense performance from Ida Lupino who manages to almost melt the screen. It is a relentless one-note onslaught of jangled nerves and jitters.What's needed here is a contrasting scene or two to let things settle a little. There are some good moments but the anxious anxiety quickly destroys the drama and we are off to the races once again. The hotel convention scene is almost unbearable in its loud and ridiculous rendering of a confrontational setup that is suppose to be suspenseful and claustrophobic.The ending looks ominous enough and the factory setting has a film-noir feel that is missing in most of the film and the subtlety of shadows would have been a welcome relief from the persistent, pulsating, and predictable performances.

yardbirdsraveup 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.