This week’s pick is the 1950 “women-in-prison” drama Caged. The film stars Eleanor Parker and was directed by John Cromwell. Screen writing credits are attributed to Virginia Kellogg based on the story Women Without Men written by Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld (source: Wikipedia).
Many of my “younger” readers may know her as the almost stepmother of the vonTrapp children in The Sound of Music. This role is definitely a great departure from that more glamorous role and we see our protagonist transform from an innocent who falls on hard times, to a prison-hardened dame who is destined for a life of crime.
How does it all go wrong?
19-year old Marie (Parker) takes part in an attempted robbery with her husband. Unfortunately, their plans are thwarted and her husband is killed. It is then off to prison for Marie who soon finds out that she is pregnant. She is determined to keep the child but circumstances arise to make this impossible. As a result she is faced with no choice but to give her child up for adoption.
This event combined with the harsh and brutal treatment she receives at the hands of inmates and guards, transforms Marie into a woman who is destined to be on the wrong side of the law. At the conclusion of the film, she is seen leaving with some “hoods”: her desire to get out of jail has lead to her make a Faustian deal with some less than above board people. The result is an indebtedness that she will have to pay while she is on the “outside.”
For her performance, Eleanor Parker received well-deserved recognition in the form of an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. There was also a Supporting Actress nod for Hope Emerson as the sadistic prison guard.
What resonated with me about this film is that for its time, it must have been a somewhat shocking look inside a woman’s prison. Some of the goings-on are obviously played up for dramatic reasons, but it still works on many levels.
Oddly enough, most later women in prison films had somewhat less I WAS A PRISONER ON A CHAIN GANG-style social-reform intent and somewhat more investment in, shall we say, rather earthier ambitions. I’ve always liked Parker, in what I’ve seen her in.
@Todd – HA HA! Indeed. I was rather disheartened when in my “research” for this post the lists I saw were primarily exploitation films including one by Jonathan Demme 🙂
But to be fair, men’s prison films are equally exploitative focusing on “shanking” and other various activities not suited for a PG crowd.
Hi, iluv and company:
Excellent choice and write-up for an Overlooked Film, iluv!
I’d seen ‘Caged’ ages ago on late night TV and recently on Turner Classic films and it hasn’t lost any of it power.
Eleanor Parker starts out as a wide eyed innocent, but that doesn’t last long against the older women and the purely evil Hope Emerson. The scene where the kitten is discovered still nearly makes me weep.
It’s no surprise as the film ends, Agnes Moorehead’s warden, Ruth Benton says of Parker’s file: “Keep it active. She’ll be back.”
Thanks @Jack. Watching it again at the weekend on TCM was in fact my inspiration!