Caged

"The Story of a Women's Prison today"

1950 1h 36m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 92

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.

“The Story of a Women's Prison today”

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Cast

Eleanor Parker
Marie Allen
Agnes Moorehead
Ruth Benton
Ellen Corby
Emma Barber
Hope Emerson
Evelyn Harper
Betty Garde
Kitty Stark
Jan Sterling
Gita "Smoochie" Kovsky
Lee Patrick
Elvira Powell
Olive Deering
June Roberts

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Cromwell
Writers: Virginia Kellogg, Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

76 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Cromwell, shot by Carl E. Guthrie. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Max Steiner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Owen Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Eleanor Parker and Agnes Moorehead and Ellen Corby carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Story of a Women's Prison today".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0042296 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 92 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Cromwell directs. Carl E. Guthrie behind the camera. Max Steiner scores. Owen Marks cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

176 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by John Cromwell, shot by Carl E. Guthrie. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Max Steiner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Owen Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Eleanor Parker and Agnes Moorehead and Ellen Corby carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The Story of a Women's Prison today".
7IMDB entry: tt0042296 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 92 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "prison", "pregnancy", "women's prison", "prison warden".

The technical file

Cinematography: Carl E. Guthrie
Original score: Max Steiner
Editing: Owen Marks
Costume design: Leah Rhodes
Makeup / hair: Perc Westmore
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Caged (1950)

Also by

John Cromwell

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2013-12-24
★ 7.5/10
Prisoner 93850 Caged is directed by John Cromwell and adapted by Virginia Kellogg from her own story Women Without men that was co-written with Bernard C. Schoenfeld. It stars Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Betty Garde and Hope Emerson. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie. Teenager Marie Allen (Parker) is sent to a women’s prison after being found guilty of being an accomplice in a robbery, a robbery that saw her husband killed. She’s also pregnant and will have to have the child in the prison. Struggling to come to terms with her incarceration and the tough regime overseen by brutish warden Harper (Emerson), Marie comes to realise that she may have to go through a major character transformation to survive. Unfairly tagged as camp and sounding on synopsis like what would become a cheese laden staple of women’s prison movies, Caged is actually rather powerful film making. The deconstruction and subsequent transformation of a young woman who clearly doesn’t belong behind those walls, is bleakly told. The prison is a foreboding place, the lady character’s reactions to their surroundings and way of life are emotionally charged. Frank in its portrayal of prison life back then, but sly with its insinuations of sexual proclivities and criminal doings on the inside, the writing has a crafty edge most befitting the sombre tone that pervades the picture. Parker leads off the list of great performances to bring the drama to life, and with Guthrie’s black and white photography superbly emphasising claustrophobia and pungent emotional turmoil, it rounds out as a thoroughly gripping piece of film. With an ending that’s appropriately biting as well. 7.5/10

Production companies