''Cage of Gold'' is a 1950

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Basil Dearden Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director. Early life Dearden was born as Basil Clive Dear at 5 Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and the ...

, and starring

Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Britain during and after the ...

, David Farrar, and

James Donald James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian mi ...

.BFI: ''Cage of Gold (1950)''
Re-linked 2015-04-28 It was written by Paul L. Stein and

Jack Whittingham Jack Whittingham (2 August 1910 – 3 July 1972) was a British playwright and screenwriter. Early life Whittingham was born in Heaton, West Yorkshire, England, and educated at Charterhouse between 1924 and 1929. He then went up Lincoln Colleg ...

Plot

A young woman, Judith Moray, deserts her prospective fiancé, the nice doctor Alan Kearn, for an old flame the dashing, but roguish, former

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

Bill Glennan. Glennan gets her pregnant and marries her, but leaves her on the morning after the wedding when he learns that her father cannot offer him financial support. Two years later, she having been told that Glennan is dead – has married Kearn, and they keep Glennan's son. But then, Glennan suddenly reappears and begins to blackmail her.

Main cast

as Judith Moray * David Farrar as Bill Glennan *

as Dr Alan Kearn *

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegan ...

as Rahman *

Madeleine Lebeau Marie Madeleine Berthe Lebeau (, 10 June 1923 – 1 May 2016) was a French film actress who also appeared in American films, most notably ''Casablanca''. Early life Lebeau married actor Marcel Dalio in 1939; it was his second marriage. They had ...

as Marie Jouvet * Maria Mauban as Antoinette Duport *

Bernard Lee John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from ...

as Inspector Grey *

Grégoire Aslan Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian (); 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician. Early life He was born to an Armenian family in Switzerland or in Constantinople, according to different sources. He m ...

as Duport *

Gladys Henson Gladys Hilda Barbara Kate Henson (née Gunn; 27 September 1897 – 21 December 1982) was an Irish actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series. Among her most notable films wer ...

as Waddy *

Harcourt Williams Ernest George Harcourt Williams (30 March 1880 – 13 December 1957) was an English actor and director. After early experience in touring companies he established himself as a character actor and director in the West End. From 1929 to 1934 he ...

as Dr Kearn senior *

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

as Victor *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

as Assistant Registrar *

Martin Boddey Albert Martin Boddey (16 April 1907 – 24 October 1975) was a British film and television actor. Boddey started acting when he was nearly 40, often portraying irritable authority figures such as police officers or magistrates. He was a fo ...

as Police Sergeant Adams *

Arthur Hambling Arthur Hambling (14 March 1888 – 6 December 1952) was a British actor, on stage from 1912, and best known for appearances in the films ''Henry V'' (1944) and ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951). In 1939 he appeared in the West End in N.C. Hunte ...

as Jenkins *

Campbell Singer Campbell Singer (born Jacob Kobel Singer; 16 March 1909 – 16 February 1976) was a British character actor who featured in a number of stage, film and television roles during his long career. He was also a playwright and dramatist. Life He was ...

as Constable *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British actor. Most of his film roles were very small but he appeared in more than 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952. His best-known ro ...

as waiter *

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

as Registry Office bBridegroom

Production

Michael Relph was forced to do the movie at short notice at the request of Ealing.

Release

''Cage of Gold'' premiered on 21 September 1950 at Odeon Marble Arch in London, replacing the

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year caree ...

comedy '' Mister 880''.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "''Cage of Gold'' is an unpretentious film, content to rely on its qualities as an absorbing story. That these are insufficient is the reason for its failure. It is indeed difficult to imagine just where the script writer imagined the chief interest of his narrative to lie; it is in no sense a study of character; the story develops extremely conventionally until the quite ingeniously staged murder; and the final mystery is no sooner propounded than it is (none too satisfactorily) cleared away. Basil Dearden has realised this abortive subject with his usual adroitmess, creating at moments at least the illusion of tension; too often, though, he carries his partiality for the shock cut, the vivid effect, into the region of self-caricature." The reviewer for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' wrote: "Ealing Studios normally know what they are about, and, in an admirably objective programme note, they frankly admit that ''Cage of Gold'' breaks completely away from what they call their 'semi-documentary' style, and is 'emotional melodrama'. The description can be accepted. ... It all runs efficiently to its rules and timetable, and, oddly enough, Miss Simmons acts better here than in ''

So Long at the Fair ''So Long at the Fair'' (US re-release title ''The Black Curse'') is a 1950 British thriller film directed by Terence Fisher and Antony Darnborough, and starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde. It was adapted from the 1947 novel of the same name ...

''." '' Picture Show'' wrote that the film is "lavishly staged and efficiently directed, but the characters are somewhat stereotyped". After the US première on 18 January 1952, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer Howard Thompson wrote: "''Cage of Gold'' ... is a polished, often suspenseful British version of the familiar old ''

Enoch Arden ''Enoch Arden'' is a narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published in 1864 during his tenure as British poet laureate. The story on which it was based was allegedly provided to Tennyson by Thomas Woolner. The poem lends its name to a ...

'' yarn. The fact that it doesn't come off on the whole is not only disappointing, but downright annoying. For even with some serious shortcomings, here is a quality product, as might be expected from

Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in west London from 1938 to 1956. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film ...

, who has produced more than his share of top-notch imports. This one has, at least, all the top-notch trimmings. The photography is excellent, Basil Dearden's direction is slick as a whistle, and the acting of the cast, headed by Jean Simmons and David Farrar, is almost consistently good. ... Sadly, though, the picture as a whole is a letdown". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Affer a succession: of sophisticated hits, it is too bad to find Ealing Studios wasting their talents and a big cast on this obvious story. ... Technical qualities of the production are up to the high Ealing standard, but the story is an unsatisfactory vehicle. Nevertheless, Jean Simmons gives a moving study as the girl who was carried away by a man whom she had loved from her-youth. It is a tender performance. David Farrar takes the part of the no-good husband in his stride but it does not show him up to best advantage. James Donald does a good enough job as husband No. 2. Herbert. Tom, one of Britain's best character actors, is wasted in a minor role as the head man-of a:smuggling ring, Madeleine Lebeau is a disappointment as the French nightclub songstress." Basil Dearden's direction suffers from the limitations imposed by Jack Whittingham's script. Jim Morahan's London Parisian settings are very good and Douglas Slocombe's lensing is efficient."

References

External links

Cage of Gold
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* {{Michael Balcon Films directed by Basil Dearden Films produced by Michael Balcon 1950 films 1950 drama films British drama films Ealing Studios films Films set in London Films scored by Georges Auric Films set in France Films with screenplays by Jack Whittingham British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films