''Not Wanted'' is a 1949 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Elmer Clifton
Elmer Clifton (March 14, 1890 – October 15, 1949) was an American writer, director and actor from the early silent days. A collaborator of D.W. Griffith, he appeared in ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) and ''Intolerance'' (1916) before giving ...
and an un-credited
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...
and starring
Sally Forrest
Sally Forrest (born Katherine Feeney; May 28, 1928 – March 15, 2015), was an American film, stage and TV actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She studied dance from a young age and shortly out of high school was signed to a contract by Metro-Gol ...
,
Keefe Brasselle
Keefe Brasselle (born Henry Keefe Brasselle February 7, 1923 – July 7, 1981) was an American film actor, television actor/producer and author. He is best remembered for the starring role in ''The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953).
Early years an ...
and
Leo Penn
Leonard Francis Penn (August 27, 1921 – September 5, 1998) was an American actor and director and the father of musician Michael Penn and actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn.
Early life
Penn was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Russi ...
.
A few days after shooting started, Clifton suffered a heart attack. Lupino stepped in to direct the film (which she co-wrote and co-produced) without taking credit (this was the last film that Clifton worked on but not his final overall effort, as two films of his would be released after his death on October 15, 1949). The film's sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Charles D. Hall. Shooting took place at the
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
.
Synopsis
A young woman is attracted to a travelling musician while feeling stifled at how her parents treat her. She abandons her home town to follow him but becomes pregnant. She is then abandoned by him and faces a decision over what to do about her impending baby. She gives the child away after giving birth but finds herself feeling guilty to the point where she nearly snatches a child from a stroller.
Cast
*
Sally Forrest
Sally Forrest (born Katherine Feeney; May 28, 1928 – March 15, 2015), was an American film, stage and TV actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She studied dance from a young age and shortly out of high school was signed to a contract by Metro-Gol ...
as Sally Kelton
*
Keefe Brasselle
Keefe Brasselle (born Henry Keefe Brasselle February 7, 1923 – July 7, 1981) was an American film actor, television actor/producer and author. He is best remembered for the starring role in ''The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953).
Early years an ...
as Drew Baxter
*
Leo Penn
Leonard Francis Penn (August 27, 1921 – September 5, 1998) was an American actor and director and the father of musician Michael Penn and actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn.
Early life
Penn was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Russi ...
as Steve Ryan
*
Dorothy Adams
Dorothy Adams (January 8, 1900 – March 16, 1988) was an American character actress of stage, film, and television.
Early years
Adams was born in Hannah, North Dakota. She later moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and was educated there.
...
as Mrs. Aggie Kelton
*
Wheaton Chambers
James Wheaton Chambers (October 13, 1887 – January 31, 1958) was an American actor during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. He appeared in more than 200 films and television series during his career.
Early years
Chambers was born on October 13, 18 ...
as Mr. Kelton
Rita Lupinoas Joan
*
Audrey Farr as Nancy
*
Carole Donne Carole is a feminine given name (see Carl for more information) and occasionally a surname.
Carole may refer to:
Given name
* Carole B. Balin (born 1964), American Reform rabbi, professor of Jewish history
*Carole Bayer Sager (born 1947), Americ ...
as Jane
*
Ruth Clifford
Ruth Clifford (February 17, 1900 – November 30, 1998) was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from that era into the television era.
Early years
Clifford was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the daughter ...
as Mrs. Elizabeth Stone
*
Ruthelma Stevens
Ruthelma Stevens (1903–1984) was an American film actress.Solomon p.357
Filmography
References
Bibliography
* Solomon, Aubrey. ''The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography''. McFarland, 2011.
External links
*
190 ...
as Miss James
*
Virginia Mullen
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...
as Mrs. Banning, Infant's mother
*
Marie Harmon
Marie Harmon (October 21, 1923 – January 25, 2021) was an American actress and businesswoman, who worked as an actress primarily in the 1940s during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her lead role in the 1946 American Western f ...
as Irene
*
Roger Anderson
Death & Destruction was a professional wrestling tag team composed of Frank "The Tank" Parker (March 21, 1970) and "Ruthless" Roger Anderson (September 20, 1967). They competed in numerous regional and independent promotions throughout the Souther ...
as Bill Aikens
*
Gregg Barton
Gregg Barton (Born Harold Wilson Barker, June 5, 1912 – November 28, 2000) was an American actor, who played various roles in feature films and television series.
Career
Born in Oswego, New York, Barton is possibly best remembered for having ...
as Patrolman
*
Charles Seel
Charles Seel (April 29, 1897 – April 19, 1980) was an American actor.
He acted in over 30 films from 1938 to 1974 and appeared in over one hundred titles for television from 1952 to 1974. He was also credited as Charles Seal and Charles F. S ...
as Dr. Williams
*
Lawrence Dobkin
Lawrence Dobkin (September 16, 1919 – October 28, 2002) was an American television director, character actor and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades.
Dobkin was a prolific performer during the Golden Age of Radio. He narrat ...
as Assistant District Attorney
*
Patrick Whyte as Reverend Culbertson
Critical reception
The film has been received positively by modern critics. It holds a 80% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 5 reviews.
Richard Brody
Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999.
Education
Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He first ...
of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' in a glowing review lauded the film and Lupino's direction, writing,
Lupino displays a documentary avidity for the details of work and play. She conveys Sally’s unworldly, impractical passion with tender, intimate closeups and an intense, effects-driven subjectivity—a hallucinatory sequence in a hospital is a masterpiece of low-budget Expressionism. An incongruous yet majestic chase scene, highlighting a photogenic array of Los Angeles locations, projects the intimate melodrama onto the world stage.
References
Bibliography
* Daniel Bubbeo. ''The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with Filmographies for Each''. McFarland, 2001.
External links
*
1949 films
1949 drama films
1940s English-language films
American drama films
Films directed by Ida Lupino
Films directed by Elmer Clifton
Film Classics films
American black-and-white films
1940s American films
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