Outrage (1950): A Review

 

OUTRAGE

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Ida Lupino.

I opted to review not an Ida Lupino performance but an Ida Lupino film. Outrage is the third film Lupino directed, making her more than just the rare female director but an even rarer film star to be a director. Long before Barbra Streisand, Jodie Foster or Olivia Wilde transitioned from in front of the camera to behind it, Ida Lupino blazed the trail they would all follow. Visually effective and tackling an important subject, Outrage works well and mostly holds your attention.

Ann Walton (Mala Powers) is happy in her life, working as a bookkeeper and dating Jim Owens (Robert Clarke). Jim proposes and her happiness is complete. That is until a canteen worker who has attempted to flirt with Ann spots her leaving work late one night. While nothing is shown, it is clear that Ann has been raped.

Traumatized and fearful, Ann keeps breaking down emotionally. She impulsively decides to run away from her hometown and flee to Los Angeles. However, when she hears on the radio about her disappearance, Ann starts walking and eventually falls in exhaustion. Fortunately, she is found by a man whom she eventually discovers is Reverend Bruce Ferguson (Tod Andrews). Finding shelter among Ferguson and his friends, the now-Ann Blake starts rebuilding her life. Things seem to be going well, if not perfect, until she reluctantly agrees to go to a local picnic/dance. Frank Marini (Jerry Paris) attempts to flirt with her, culminating in a forced kiss. She begins having flashbacks and beats Frank with a wrench. Will her past destroy her future? Will Ann be able to recover enough to literally and metaphorically go home again?

One of the best elements in Outrage, which Lupino also cowrote with Malvin Wald and Collier Young (who was also Lupino's husband at the time) is that it manages to reveal enough without being in any way graphic. The standards at the time would not have permitted Outrage to use the word "rape", let alone show it. The closest the film gets is when using the word "assault". However, it is clear what happened to Ann. This, I think makes Outrage more effective in that the film trusts us to understand what is going on without having to spell it out for us.

I think it makes the horror of Ann's rape more effective because it is left to our imagination. Lupino excels in this sequence. We do have some music early on to indicate the menace, but the sequence of the man pursuing Ann, her efforts to flee from him and the end are without a score. This builds up the tension, allowing the audience to focus on the growing danger. We end the scene with an overhead shot of the rapist approaching a crumpled Ann while a man at a window, coming out to hear why a horn is sounding, doesn't see anything and closes the window.

It is hard not to be horrified by the scene, and Outrage makes a subtle suggestion about the indifference of others when that man closes a window and does not see the woman in danger. Here, we can say that it is allegory. We can also say it works on a purely surface level, where there is no symbolism intended. I think that it is open to interpretation, making it work either way.

Outrage is realistic in portraying Ann's trauma. When poor Frank starts approaching Ann, the film shifts to Ann's POV. Here, the soundtrack makes Frank's voice fade into an echo and Lupino uses eerie music to show her confused state of mind. While I think Frank was coming on a bit strong, I also think Ann should have confided in the counselor that came with the police right after her assault or in Reverend Ferguson. Frank could have been killed, which would have shifted attention from Ann's trauma to Ann's crime. Outrage does not shy away from both the reasoning behind Ann's actions and films the sequence well. It also, again to its credit, does not suggest that Frank deserved to be murdered. 

Outrage is cinematically impressive, with many excellent scenes that reveal more than dialogue would. Early in the film, we see how Lupino shot the engagement scene. She put Jim and Ann's mother in the background while Ann's father and Ann are in the foreground. The direction makes clear that Ann's father is a bit upset at having to lose his daughter, but Ann is tenderly comforting him. When Ann is brought to a lineup to find the potential rapist, Lupino provides a good montage of how traumatizing this experience is.

Outrage is a B-film, where the budget shows that it was limited in what it could do. From the looks of it, the living room of the ranch house where Ann takes refuge looks exactly like the living room of her parents' home. Credit should be given that the film managed to make it work, but I think the sets look the same. 

The film is mostly well-acted. I found Powers a bit exaggerated in her performance before the assault. I think she portrayed the trauma and long-term effects of Ann's rape well, though sometimes she did come across as overdramatic no matter what the situation. Andrews' Reverend Ferguson has a strong moment where he discusses his return to faith after the war. He, however, also had an off moment when attempting to indict society for Ann's plight. He insists that had her rapist received rehabilitation from his previous arrests for robbery rather than just released at the end of his sentence, he might not have turned back to crime. 

I do not know if this is true, and it felt a bit off. The film also ends on an ambiguous ending. Ann does get on the bus heading back to her hometown, where her parents and Jim have been searching and waiting for her. However, is it what Ann truly wants, or does she do it to make Ferguson happy? Even Ferguson does not look happy, but more concerned. It may not be a happy way to end Outrage, but it may be truthful.

Outrage looks at a serious subject with respect, restraint and without sensationalism. It showcases Ida Lupino's visual skills and strong direction. It is definitely worth the viewers' time.

DECISION: B+