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:

Will she come out a woman or a wildcat?

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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

Screen Director's Playhouse broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on August 2, 1951 with Eleanor Parker reprising her film role.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

Emma Barber: That trained seal can sure ask a lot of questions. Who is this Pearl Harbor anyway? What is she, an inmate?

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Connections

Featured in American Grindhouse (2010)

User Reviews

Great movie, underrated

For reasons I cannot fathom, this film sometimes ends up on lists of the worst movies of all time; this despite Oscar nominations for Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson. It has some of the best acting performances around, runs the gamut on "stock" characters, but well done and great black & white filming and lighting. It's terrifically engaging and one quickly gets wrapped up with the characters, some of whom are morally ambiguous and some of whom are just evil, and how they choose to cope in unbearable circumstances. It's a great movie and deserving of a lot more credit than it's gotten in the past. 10/10.