A 1940s melodrama that rises above the level of the genre to examine issue of unwanted pregnancy

Ida Lupino's 1949 melodrama, Not Wanted (she isn't credited on all sources as director because she took up the reins when the original director became ill), is a deceptively powerful work that in some ways goes beyond the conventions of its time and of its genre. The film shows us the plight of a 19-year-old woman (Sally) who has a difficult home life with an overbearing mother, she starts to date a jazz/classical pianist who wants to break out of his life playing in local saloons and clubs; they have a brief (one-night?) relationship and he leaves for "Capital City." Completely misreading his supposed affection, Sally follows and is immediately rebuffed: He wants to get on w/ his career and has no use for her. Meanwhile she meets another guy, a sweet and very dull injured war vet, who pursues her avidly - but as these things happen, she's not that into him. (In a twist that makes us squirm today, he gives her a job in his gas station, then pressures her to go out w/ him. Good thing he's such as "square," as they used to say.) To this point, the movie's a straightforward melodrama, with a ridiculous, swelling soundtrack and with many stagey and stilted one-on-one scenes. The movie takes twist, however (is this where Lupino took over?) as Sally discovers she's pregnant - a pretty cool scene of her passing out at a small amusement park leads to their calling a doctor - and from this point forward the movie has almost a documentary feeling, exploring the issue of "unwanted" pregnancy (the title is a clever double-entendre) and the unfairness of the woman's plight. More fortunate than some, Sally gets taken in by a have for expectant single mothers, a very caring environment, but she's faced with the terrifying decision as to whether to keep and raise her child. The birth scene at the hospital is terrific - all filmed from the mother's semi-conscious point of view - and then the scenes of Sally post partum, working a menial job, living in a tough neighborhood, drawn to all the children that she sees playing on the sidwalks and "stoops," is really powerful, culminating in her snatching up a baby from an untended carriage. As a brief note in current New Yorker pointed out, the film concludes w/ some fine scenes of 1940s LA (Angel Steps, I think) as Sally races away, pursued by would-be "square" suitor; I don't know why the film didn't acknowledge the LA setting, would have made it more real rather than faux-universal (Capital City??); the ending, which some might see as "happy," has enough ambiguity and uncertainty to balance out the occasional schmaltz that seems inevitable for a melodrama from the 1940s. (Note to Amazon Prime: for some reason the left-side stereo channel dies in the final "reel" of the film.)