Caged (1950 Film)

''Caged'' is a 1950 American film noir directed by John Cromwell and starring Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Betty Garde, Hope Emerson, and Ellen Corby. It was adapted by Virginia Kellogg from the story "Women Without Men" by Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld.

The film portrays the story of a young newlywed sent to prison for armed robbery. Her brutal experiences while incarcerated, along with the killing of her husband, transform her from a meek, naive woman into a hardened convict. The film's subplot includes massive prison corruption.

''Caged'' was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Plot

Married 19-year-old Marie Allen is sent to prison after a botched armed robbery attempt with her husband, Tom, who is killed. While receiving her initial prison physical examination, she learns that she is two months pregnant.

Marie has trouble adjusting to the monotonous and cutthroat world of the women's prisond in ten months, Marie witnesses several prisoners who are granted parole but must remain in jail because their parole officers have not secured work for them. One such hopeless prisoner hangs herself. This steadily drains Marie's hopes for an early release.

Despite the rule of sadistic matron Evelyn Harper, Marie gives birth to a healthy but premature baby. She plans to grant temporary custody to her mother with the intent of taking the child after she is released, but Marie's stepfather will not allow the baby in his house. After Marie is denied parole, she tries half-heartedly to escape. She is not punished for the attempt, but the authorities force her to surrender her child for adoption.

The arrival of notorious criminal Elvira Powell triggers a rivalry with Kitty. Elvira bribes Harper to place Kitty in solitary confinement, where Kitty is beaten. When a kitten is found in the jail yard, Marie attempts to adopt it as a pet, but Harper tries to take the kitten, prompting the inmates to riot. The kitten is accidentally killed during the melee and Marie is punished for fighting with Harper.

Before taking Marie to a solitary-confinement cell, Harper shaves Marie's head, symbolically stripping her of her innocence. Harper has disagreements with sympathetic reformist prison superintendent Ruth Benton, especially after the latest incident with Marie. Because Harper is a political appointee, the police commissioner refuses to fire her and instead asks for Benton's resignation. When Benton declares that she will demand a public hearing, the resignation issue is dropped.

Kitty finally rejoins her fellow inmates after serving a month in solitary confinement, but she is distraught and mentally unstable. After being harassed by Harper in the prison cafeteria, Kitty stabs Harper to death as the inmates watch and make no attempt to stop it. Marie—now hardened by her exposure to career criminals and sadistic guards—encourages Kitty in the fatal assault.

Eligible for parole once again, Marie claims to have secured a job outside the prison. However, the job is simply a ruse to win her release so that she can join Elvira's shoplifting gang. Marie leaves the institution a cynical, unscrupulous woman. After Marie is freed, an office assistant asks Benton what to do with Marie's file. Benton replies: "Keep it active. She'll be back."

Cast

* Eleanor Parker as Marie Allen
* Agnes Moorehead as Ruth Benton
* Ellen Corby as Emma Barber
* Hope Emerson as Evelyn Harper
* Betty Garde as Kitty Stark
* Sheila MacRae as Helen
* Jan Sterling as Jeta "Smoochie" Kovsky
* Lee Patrick as Elvira Powell
* Jane Darwell as Solitary Confinement Matron
* Gertrude W. Hoffmann as Millie
* Olive Deering as June Roberts
* Gertrude Michael as Georgia Harrison

Production

In 1948, the studio had originally intended the film to be a vehicle for Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, but financial differences intervened. Davis reportedly rejected the film due to its implied lesbian content, referring to it as a "dyke movie".

Reception

In 1950, ''Variety'' gave a mixed but predominantly positive review of ''Caged'', characterizing it as a "grim, unrelieved study of cause and effect" that "still adds up to very drab entertainment".“Brog.”(1950)
"'Caged'"
review, ''Variety'', May 3, 1950, page 6. Internet Archive. Retrieved August 29, 2018. Nevertheless, ''Variety'' was very complimentary of nearly all aspects of the film's production, including its direction, editing, set designs, music, and cast performances, especially those of Parker and Emerson:

Another American reviewer in 1950, ''Film Bulletin'', gave generally high marks as well to ''Caged''."'Caged’ Stark, Gripping Prison Film Is Highly Exploitable"
''Film Bulletin'' (New York, N.Y.), May 8, 1950, page 10. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 1, 2018. The publication contended that the film's "stark, gripping" social commentary would be even more powerful if the "dismal atmosphere" of its storyline had at least a few contrasting lighter moments. “'Caged’”, ''Film Bulletin'' observed, "is to penal institutions what ''The Snake Pit'' was to mental institutions and ''The Lost Weekend'' to alcoholism."

In a much later review, critic Emanuel Levy in 2007 generally praised the film too:

''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'' in 2014 favorably awarded ''Caged'' three out of four stars, describing the film overall as “stark” with "remarkable" performances.Caged
at Turner Classic Movies

Accolades

In popular culture

''Caged'' is satirized in a 1977 '' SCTV'' comedy sketch as "Broads Behind Bars" with the character of Marie renamed "Cheryl" (and portrayed by comedian Catherine O'Hara). Cheryl is depicted as a teenager in the mid-to-late 1950s, who after smoking "pot" ends up in prison after being framed for armed robbery and also learns later that she is pregnant. The character of Kitty is played by Andrea Martin, while John Candy, in drag, plays the role of matron Harper (called "Schultzy"). A knife fight between Kitty and Harper occurs in the skit, instead of a fork as in the film, although both Kitty and Schultzy die. Kitty is fatally stabbed by Schultzy, and Schultzy is later killed by Cheryl. For her action, Cheryl is then told she can be released from prison, however, she responds by only laughing and declining the offer, echoing Kitty's remark in the original film, “No dice!” The skit, in the end, presents itself not only as a parody of “women-in-prison” movies like ''Caged'' but also as a spoof of the anti-marijuana films that were presented to students in many American high schools during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Streaming audio

* Eleanor Parker also stars in the radio version of ''Caged'', which was originally broadcast eight months after the film's release. It was presented by NBC Radio on August 2, 1951, as episode #112 of the network's anthology series ''Screen Directors Playhouse''. That adaptation is free for download at th
Internet Archive

{{John Cromwell

1950 films
1950 drama films
1950s prison films
American black-and-white films
American prison drama films
1950s English-language films
Film noir
Films directed by John Cromwell
Films scored by Max Steiner
Warner Bros. films
Women in prison films
1950s American films
English-language crime films