Caged (1950)

A naive nineteen year old widow becomes coarsened and cynical when she is sent to a woman's prison and is exposed to hardened criminals and sadistic guards.

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Virginia Kellogg (screenplay), Virginia Kellogg (story),

Stars:

Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Eleanor Parker	...	Marie Allen
Agnes Moorehead	...	Ruth Benton
Ellen Corby	...	Emma Barber
Hope Emerson	...	Evelyn Harper
Betty Garde	...	Kitty Stark
Jan Sterling	...	Jeta Kovsky aka Smoochie
Lee Patrick	...	Elvira Powell
Olive Deering	...	June Roberts - Inmate
Jane Darwell	...	Isolation Matron
Gertrude Michael	...	Georgia Harrison
Sheila MacRae	...	Helen (as Sheila Stevens)

Storyline

Frightened 19-year-old Marie Allen gets sent to an Illinois penitentiary for being an accomplice in an armed robbery. A sympathetic prison head tries to help, but her efforts are subverted by cruel matron Evelyn Harper. Marie's harsh experiences turn her from doe-eyed innocent to hard-nosed con.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | obese woman | birth in prison | cruelty | killed with a fork | 

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Taglines:

You don't know women until you know them without men!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Femmes en cage

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In order to do research for the film, Virginia Kellogg pulled some strings to incarcerate herself in a woman's prison. What she wrote once she was out was not so much a screenplay, but a kind of almanac of everything she witnessed while in prison. Warner Bros. then got their screenwriters to make a screenplay out of it.

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Goofs

When Marie Allen announces that her kitten has died, the cat opens its mouth.

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Quotes

Millie: What I'd give for a sink full of dirty dishes.

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Connections

Referenced in The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch (2005)

User Reviews

Still A Stunner

I saw this movie in Hollywood as part of the annual film noir festival at the American Cinematheque. This film has lost none of its ability to move an audience. Not only is it a good prison drama, but it is a good example of film noir moviemaking as well.

It was a bit of daring to show how corrupt the prison system can be and "inmates decaying" as one character put it.The lead character (Eleanor Parker) goes from being an innocent to becoming as hard as anyone else in the prison system due to the efforts of her matron and chief tormentor (Hope Emerson). It is because of this transformation that the film goes from being a routine prison drama to a first-rate noir thriller.

Jan Sterling, who plays "Smoochie" in the film, was at the screening and spoke afterward. She said director John Cromwell (father of character actor James Cromwell) did a great job of making you feel like you were in prison. She said by the end of the shoot, the performers felt like they were really confined. Parker, Emerson and the script by Virginia Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld were nominated for Oscars.