Caged! (1950)

Prison Drama. - Caged! review by Steve

Made by Warner Brothers, the home of the prison film, this is the best women-in-prison picture ever made! The story is familiar: a naive and exploitable first offender (Eleanor Parker) arrives at the Big House as a 19 years old. She is consumed by fear, but among the crazy lifers, the mentally sick and the dumb victims, she transforms into a tough convict. A survivor.

It has a liberal perspective which asserts that punishment further harms these luckless dupes and a progressive approach would be more effective. But there is no money for therapists and teachers. It creates a powerful impression of the institution: the brutal hierarchy, the crooked officers, the insensitive parole board.

Eleanor Parker is phenomenal as the inexperienced girl who goes into prison pregnant and is forced to give up her baby by law. She breaks down and rebuilds herself in a new shell, like the more resilient cons. Hope Emerson is formidable as the butch screw who runs the wing. Jan Sterling excels as an uneducated sex worker.

The slang is dated, but this is a credible drama which was intelligently researched (by screenwriter Virginia Kellogg). Yes, there's a shower scene, but this is no exploitation flick! Though surely it invented some of the genre cliches. It's so powerful because of the pitiful and futile realities of the penal system, and Parker's heartbreaking performance.