Caught (1949)

Hard to see why this is noir - it's is more B&W drama than anything. Fine acting and gripping screenplay but a bathetic close. One can't shake off th feeling that this could have been so much more ..

This film includes some very good acting by Barbara Bel Geddes, James Mason, and Robert Ryan. Ryan in particular is superb as the rich abusive husband. Supposedly his character was based on Howard Hughes but he could be any rich and greedy asshole, including Donald Trump. What I found most interesting about this film is how it handles the concerns of working women in the late 1940's. In fact, this movie is a great time capsule on the fears and anxieties of women of the period. How do be financially independent. How do get ahead in the world. How to deal with the unreasonable demands of men and maintain one's dignity and independence. This movie contains many of the themes that would dominate movies 2 decades later. But unfortunately, in the end, all the female characters submit to male dominated viewpoints and never really escape their plights. But there is one issue that comes through that is most curious. The main female character, played by Bel Geddes, becomes pregnant by the evil rich Ryan character. She has mixed feelings about the pregnancy since she is no longer in love with her husband (Robert Ryan) but is in love with her new employer (James Mason). It turns out she has a miscarriage right after her abusive husband has a massive heart attack which clears the way for her to marry Mason. Strangely enough, everybody seems so happy by the death of this "baby" that it almost seems like an abortion has occurred. In fact, I would argue that this movie advocates abortion even though it is never mentioned throughout the movie. It is clear that removing an unwanted pregnancy that stands in the way of happiness is acceptable. I think it shows that for much of the movie going public in the late 1940's abortion was accepted even though it could not be discussed in public. I don't think this movie could be made today.

As a fan of film noir I was excited to find another movie to watch. Little did I know what I was in store for. The lead character was a prime example of a gold digger. I know that looking at a movie through the lens of the present day will distort the original work however I find it hard to believe that a normal woman in the 1940's could be that obsessed with 'bagging a rich one'. The main character spends the entire film whining about wanting to be rich all the while hating herself for being a gold digger (You can't have your cake and eat it too). I know they wanted to make her seem naive but it completely backfired. She is just a horrible woman and has no redeeming value whatsoever as a character. The performances seem dry and forced; absolutely no chemistry between Leonore and the doctor. There is even less chemistry between her and Smith. I find it hard to believe she could have ever fooled herself into loving him (as she claims in the film). Smith is also the prime example of a terrible man and is quite possible a worse human than her. Marrying her just to spite his doctor and then ruling her life at every turn. He is however more believable at being a cad then she is as a gold digger. In a movie full of garbage the most insulting thing to contemplate is that a 'happy ending' (complete with an uplifting score) is the woman's child being still born. After pleading with her husband not to take her baby away from him she is relieved to have the baby die so she can be free to marry the doctor she loves, a doctor (pediatrician) which is just as happy to have the baby and husband out of the picture so he can finally have his one true love. Mindless dribble at its finest. All in all the film is an early example of tawdry soap opera complete with terrible acting and a crummy plot.

When I first watched this movie about 20 or so years ago, it was the first time I'd seen Ms. Barbara Bel Geddes in something other than the TV show "Dallas". As such, I remember being quite impressed not only by her young beauty but also how different this character-a model named Leonora Eames trying to snag a rich man-was from Miss Ellie. In fact, part of me thinks maybe J.R. Ewing himself would not take kindly to the way this Smith Ohlrig (Robert Ryan) treats his Mama here! So because Leonora finds her pampered existence stifling, she ups and leaves Smith-with his initial blessing-to go work for a Dr. Larry Quinada (James Mason) in the poor side of Manhattan as a receptionist. Ryan and Mason are good enough in their well-defined roles but Ms. Bel Geddes truly amazes with her stretching her acting talents with the range of emotions she displayed here. No wonder Larry Hagman finally agreed to join "Dallas" when he found out she would play his mom on that now-legendary show! So on that note, I highly recommend Caught mainly on the strength of Ms. Bel Geddes performance alone.