Earlier this year, the noirish gothic thriller, Jennifer (1953), starring Ida Lupino and Howard Duff, was given its first-ever home video release by Imprint Films. This release is a pristine blu-ray—a vast improvement over the rough copies circulating in recent years. Finally we have a version in which the stunning cinematography of James Wong Howe and the locations in and around an elaborate 1920s mansion in Santa Barbara, California, can be seen to full advantage. The movie is greatly elevated as a result.
One curious aspect of this overlooked film is that its director, Joel Newton, has no other credits in the film industry and does not appear to exist. "Joel Newton" is clearly a pseudonym.
Various writers have pieced together evidence that the film was actually directed by Bernard Girard, early in his career as a writer, director and producer that extended into the 1970s. In 2013, Jennifer Berzin talked to one of the last surviving cast members to get first-hand confirmation.
In an interview for this article, Lupino’s co-star Robert Nichols said, “It was directed and written by Barney Gerard. I thought he was very gifted. Ida had final cutting rights and she was not happy with it. She re-cut the film and Barney took his name off as writer and director.” Nichols thought this was possibly because in the final version “she came across as being very neurotic and she didn’t like that and she changed a few scenes so she was less neurotic.”
We do not have to rely only on decades-after-the-fact recollections. We have newspapers from the time of filming, which took place in February, 1953.
One item by columnist Sidney Skolsky notes that Lupino and Duff, who had married slightly over year earlier, "were rehearsing a torrid love scene for Jennifer. They got a little carried away and Director Bernard Girard said: 'That's not the scene'. 'Yes,' said Ida, 'but that's my life.'"
And now we have photographic evidence of Girard's direction from the Santa Barbara News-Press, February 15, 1953.
Only stars Ida Lupino and Howard Duff will appear on the screen in this scene from the film "Jennifer" being made at the fabulous Dieterich mansion in Montecito. This candid shot by News-Press photographer Ray Borgen gives an idea how many people are involved in the preparation for each "take" for this suspense film directed by Bernard Girard (far right with script). The picture is being filmed at this location in its entirety.
So while, for those willing to do a bit of research, the identity of Joel Newton may not have been a real mystery, his identity is now truly unmasked.
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Sources
- Ida Lupino and the Making of Jennifer, Jennifer Berzin, Oct. 16, 2013
- Newspapers.com archives for United States newspapers
Further viewing
- Purchase the restored blu-ray edition of Jennifer via Imprint Films at their website