Caged (1950)

Is there a better opening line in the entire history of cinema to hook a viewer than the one in my summary line above? Man, I've seen prison flicks before but this one tops just about all of them. It borderlines those exploitation films of the Thirties and Forties, but with a twist - this one is actually pretty good. There's a coherent story and the characters are generally believable, and whoever did the casting for the picture deserves a blue ribbon.Take prison matron Evelyn Harper for example. Portrayed by Hope Emerson, this gargantuan cell keeper will give you nightmares for a week after you've seen the picture. You know, I couldn't figure out who she reminded me of and then it came to me. Picture an overweight Larry Fine of the Three Stooges shot up on steroids and you'll be in the right neighborhood. I couldn't resist looking up her bio here on IMDb and her stats are six foot two and two hundred thirty pounds! In the Fifties she did a series of TV commercials as the voice of Elsie the Cow - how appropriate was that?!?!You know, if you go down the cast list for the picture, there's really a lot of talent on board here. Agnes Moorehead is probably the most recognizable name, but Ellen Corby, Jan Sterling, Lee Patrick and Jane Darwell are all respected actresses of the era, and Eleanor Parker in the lead role had just the right amount of doe eyed innocence to make you share in her agony. Sterling probably had the best inmate name - Smoochie the CP ('Common Prostitute'), while Olive Deering's character June was the most tragic, playing out in an almost obligatory prison movie scene in which she hangs herself after 'flopping back in' following a rejected parole board review.Filmed in 1950, this was one of the latter day Warner Brothers films documenting the harsh conditions of prison life while attempting to promote reform as exemplified by superintendent Ruth Benton (Moorehead). She's thwarted in her attempts by a limited budget, conniving politicians and her own matron Harper who's personal connections inside the system make her virtually untouchable. It's like hitting your head against a brick wall, except these were cell block gray.If you go for stuff like this, you might try 1933's "Parole Girl" with Mae Clark in the lead role, or better yet, 1955's "Women's Prison" starring Ida Lupino as a tough minded, non-compassionate prison superintendent. Unlike this movie, "Women's Prison" is chock full of plot holes and continuity gaffes but in it's own way it's just as entertaining as this one. All these flicks are just the ticket if you ever find yourself in solitary.

Kudos to director John Cromwell for producing such a well-crafted, women's, prison picture that (Surprise! Surprise!) rises far above the usual pitfalls of being nothing more than pure exploitation trash.As well - Kudos goes to both Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson for their earnest conviction and sincere believability in the first-rate character portrayals that they delivered in "Caged".This gritty, unsentimental, unglamourous, tough-as-nails Chick Flick from 1950 is, without question, the best prison film (focusing on women) that I have ever seen, bar none.Yes. Caged is clichéd as only a prison picture could possibly be, but, with that aside, its cast, its director, and its screenwriter (Virginia Kellogg) were obviously so professional and self-assured about their involvement in the story that they were tackling that Caged literally stands tall as a shining gem of its genre.From its despairing opening sequence, to its even more despairing final moments, Caged certainly succeeded in holding my unwavering interest and attention for its full 96-minute running time.Yes. Indeed. I recommend this picture very highly.P.S. - Think you're tough?.... Just wait till you see what happens in the scene involving Fluffy, the adorable kitten!

Powerful prison drama is the best "women in prison" movie ever. Most other films that fall into that category are pure exploitation trash. I've admittedly enjoyed a few of those for camp value. But this is a serious film done at a time movies like this weren't being made a dime a dozen. Eleanor Parker gives a terrific performance as the innocent young woman hardened by the brutality of prison. Hope Emerson is the evil butch prison matron who makes life miserable for Parker and the other prisoners. Good support by Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, and Betty Garde. Really, the whole cast is fantastic. It's an extraordinary film. Definitely recommended.

Caged is directed by John Cromwell and adapted by Virginia Kellogg from her own story Women Without men that was co-written with Bernard C. Schoenfeld. It stars Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Betty Garde and Hope Emerson. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie.Teenager Marie Allen (Parker) is sent to a women's prison after being found guilty of being an accomplice in a robbery, a robbery that saw her husband killed. She's also pregnant and will have to have the child in the prison. Struggling to come to terms with her incarceration and the tough regime overseen by brutish warden Harper (Emerson), Marie comes to realise that she may have to go through a major character transformation to survive.Unfairly tagged as camp and sounding on synopsis like what would become a cheese laden staple of women's prison movies, Caged is actually rather powerful film making. The deconstruction and subsequent transformation of a young woman who clearly doesn't belong behind those walls, is bleakly told. The prison is a foreboding place, the lady character's reactions to their surroundings and way of life are emotionally charged.Frank in its portrayal of prison life back then, but sly with its insinuations of sexual proclivities and criminal doings on the inside, the writing has a crafty edge most befitting the sombre tone that pervades the picture. Parker leads off the list of great performances to bring the drama to life, and with Guthrie's black and white photography superbly emphasising claustrophobia and pungent emotional turmoil, it rounds out as a thoroughly gripping piece of film. With an ending that's appropriately biting as well. 7.5/10