Already successful as an actress in Hollywood, UK-born Ida Lupino pushed aside barriers to become a film director within the studio system — and not to give just herself better roles. Taking on a familial dynamic in the rarely depicted world of women’s tennis, Lupino deployed recent Oscar winner Claire Trevor as a mother living through her prodigy daughter (Sally Forrest) rather unhealthily. The physical and emotional strains on the younger woman are vividly realized in both the match scenes and at-home ones.
Print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive