Few women in the history of cinema have taken on as many creative roles as Ida Lupino. Her forty-eight-year career spanned five decades and a variety of genres, mediums and diverse roles. This book delves into who Ida Lupino was on either side of the camera, both as a constructed screen persona and a creative individual working in the industry.

Born in London in 1918 into a prestigious and long-established theatrical family, a teenage Lupino relocated to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting, signed first to Paramount Pictures and then Warner Brothers. By the 1950s she was acting for leading Hollywood studios and directing, producing, and writing social realist films for her own independent film company, The Filmakers.

This book examines Ida Lupino's impressive cinematic and televisual career by exploring key themes that regularly occurred throughout her work and life. Concerned specifically with gender relations, alienation, and isolation and disability, the study argues both for Lupino's importance within cinematic history and the position of women within the industry more generally.

The volume aims to better highlight Lupino's legacy, shining light on her overlooked and under-researched acting skills and star persona, as well as her established position as a serious filmmaker.