Not Wanted (1949)

A young and naive "good" girl (Sally Forrest) falls in love with a jazz musician (Leo Penn) but after he abandons her, she finds herself pregnant. Co-written, co-produced and co-directed by actress Ida Lupino. Although the credited director is Elmer Clifton, this was Lupino's directorial debut. She took over the director reins after Clifton suffered a heart attack. Clifton was a director of B films, mostly westerns, so one can safely assume the impressive directorial flourishes are all Lupino's. Essentially a low budget exploitation film about unwed motherhood, Lupino brings an almost documentary feel to the project with location shooting around Los Angeles yet is also very cinematic in her highly expressive visualization. I just wished the acting were a little better. With Keefe Brasselle, Dorothy Adams and Lawrence Dobkin.