Watch out everyone: the Mother Ship of "women in prison" movies lands back on TCM this Monday night (June 11). CAGED, the 1950 Warner Bros classic starring Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Jan Sterling, Hope Emerson and many others is a brutally uncompromising look at life behind bars that will leave you speechless. Parker plays the young innocent who gets sent up and ultimately becomes hardened to the ways of life in prison. Hope Emerson is the cruel warden bent on breaking her. It's really a brilliant film, with tight direction by John Cromwell and a relentless sense of doom that only the best noir films can induce. Of the dozens of films made in this genre, CAGED is far and away my favorite. Truly not to be missed! It comes on at 7:30 pm out West and 10:30 in the East.
Later that night (1:00 am in the West) you can also see its lower-budget doppleganger, the 1955 Columbia "B" film WOMEN'S PRISON. While not nearly as ferocious as CAGED, it still manages to deliver a fair amount of nervous tension. And what a cast: Ida Lupino as the twisted, sadistic warden, Jan Sterling (she's in both of 'em!), Audrey Totter, Cleo Moore and Juanita Moore as inmates, veterans Gertrude Michael (she's in both, too) and Mae Clarke as matrons and Howard Duff (Mr. Lupino) as a sympathetic prison doctor. Mousey little Phyllis Thaxter plays the "good girl trapped in hell" variant. WOMEN'S PRISON may lack the aesthetic grandeur of CAGED, but it certainly entertains in its low-down cheesy way. No doubt about it: this is the double bill of the week!
CAGED (1950) / WOMEN'S PRISON (1955)
CAGED (1950) / WOMEN'S PRISON (1955)
Last edited by Dewey1960 on June 9th, 2007, 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for the heads-up. I've been waiting for Caged since the 60's when I first saw it on New Yorks "Million Dollar Movie". Yes this is one of the best Women in "Stur" films. The cast can't be beat. With Eleanor Parker ,Agnes Moorehead ,Ellen Corby and Hope Emerson (who just about steals every scene she's in.)
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vallo
"We're all forgotten sooner or later. But not films. That's all the memorial we should need or hope for."
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Mr. Arkadin
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