Caged!
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Movie Reviews of Caged!
Movie Review: anything but campy...
Summary: 5 Stars
It's difficult to praise this film more than it's been by other reviewers, but I think I can add something I suspect most people don't catch.
Though "Caged" is, in the great Warners tradition, an attack on "the system" that corrupts (more or less) innocent people who deserve better, it is important to note /why/ Parker's character, who's been trying to maintain her innocence through most of the film, even as she's hardening, moves over to a life of crime. It occurs when she gazes at a young, wealthy woman taking a tour of the prison. The woman is wearing beautiful jewelry and a deluxe fur coat. We see in that moment her lust for material things that even a warning from the oldest woman in the prison -- a murderer who's wasted forty years of her life for nothing, and for whom a sink full of dirty dishes would look mighty attractive -- cannot undo. In short, though she has been unjustly brutalized, Parker's character ultimately /chooses/ to be a criminal, because of an overwhelming desire for the things that society says are the mark of "success".
The final scene is particularly effective, with a wise-ass Parker getting into a car full of gangsters, the sudden confusion and fear on her face revealing that she knows she might not have made the best choice.
Unlike most of the other films in this four-box series, "Caged" has no running commentary, though it deserves one. The sound and transfer, however, are excellent, fully up to the standards of the other films.
PS: Though this disk is listed as discontinued, it is available in one of Warners' "Camp Cult Classics" boxes.
Movie Review: A cast that includes such likeables
Summary: 5 Stars
John Cromwell's 1950 classic, "Caged" is one of Warner Brothers great films. Chilling for its' day, it still packs a great blow. You'll recognize Eleanor Parker as Marie Allen, who enters the Women's Penn at the ripe age of 19. Her transformation is well crafted. She's supported by the warden, beautifully played by Agnes Moorehead. Unfortunately Marie is assigned to Corridor B where the brilliant, 6'2", 230 pound Hope Emerson is assigned as matron. Miss Emerson, as Evelyn Harper, terrorizes the sixty girls in her "bullpen" as does it with great skill. Each of her scenes is a delight to watch. (Make sure you see her in "Westward the Women", 1951. Very different performance.)
"Caged" also includes a number of great character actresses from theatre, film, radio, and early television. They include Betty Garde (Aunt Eller in "Oklahoma"), Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton in "The Waltons"), Jane Darwell (Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath"), Eileen Stevens (The nurse in "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman"), Lee Patrick (Mrs. Topper in the sitcom "Topper"), Gertrude Hoffman (Mrs. Odetts in "My Little Margie") and many, many more women I'm sure you'll recognize and enjoy watching.
Miss Parker was nominated for Best Actress, but lost to Judy Holliday ("Born Yesterday") and Miss Emerson was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and gave the award to Josephine Hull ("Harvey").
You will not be disappointed when you add this classic to your collection.
Movie Review: Come on you tramps, line up for Christmas!
Summary: 5 Stars
That's just one of the great lines from this fantastic women's prison film made in 1950 that amazingly has never been previously released. Eleanor Parker, giving the performance of her career, stars as Marie Allen, a timid and innocent 19-year old who is sent to prison after being charged as an accomplice in a minor robbery. The brutality of prison life will change her life forever. This is a stark film, both in content and style, with taut dialog and astute observations about harsh prison conditions, corrupt government officials and the emotional turmoil of people put in such situations. In addition to Parker, every performance is a stand-out. Hope Emerson is unforgettable as the evil prison matron, Betty Garde as an inmate who befriends and tries to protect Marie and Lee Patrick as Elvira Powell, an inmate with powerful outside connections all will leave an indelible memory for viewers. Even the bit parts are memorable - the wonderful Gertrude Hoffman, as older inmate Millie who sadly says, "I'm a tall weed in the grass and the grapevines bloomin', what I'd give for a sinkful of dirty dishes."
I've seen this film numerous times and every time I watch it I catch a line that I missed before. It is a film that holds up and a film that you won't soon forget.
Movie Review: Gertrude Hoffman: "Lay A Hand On Me and I'll Put Your Lights Out!"
Summary: 5 Stars
At one time, there were no Oscars for supporting actors, but because audiences came out of theatres raving about Walter Brennan's billiant supporting performances, a new category was born.
They should not have stopped there; some films have bit players that are so good, you never forget them. One for cameos should have been created after Ms. Hoffman's biting turn in this picture. Gertrude Hoffman, before she became 'Mrs. Odets' in the TV sitcom, "My Little Margie," graced the screen as "the lifer" in CAGED. Only she could put fear and doubt into the mind of the crazed matron played by Hope Emerson.
I have a great copy of this on VHS, but I want it on DVD, so I'm going to purchase this DVD. Tremendous performances from Eleanor Parker, Jan Sterling, Lee Patrick (the lesbian), Ellen Corby, Agnes Morehead and the always forgotten Edith Evanson (prisoner intake typist). Ms. Evanson was also marvelous in Hitchock's ROPE as John Dall's housekeeper. A frank and bold women's prison movie which was the basis for drag queen, Divine's stage version, WOMEN BEHIND BARS, which played in a theatre on the next street from my apartment and ran there for over a year. Divine was great as the nasty matron. A wonderful night at the theatre.
Movie Review: Female version of Shawshank Redemption
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an underrated movie. For the time it was made, it contains a realism that was lacking in other films of its decade. It echoes the theme of "Shawshank Redemtion"; corrupt prison employees, uncaring government officials, and a decent soul who fell through the cracks. The difference is this film deals with women, and the main character loses the battle to maintain her dignity and the determination to turn her life around upon release. While there may be a brief feeling of satisfying revenge in the movie, there is no happy resolution. Some people may not want to watch a movie without a happy ending, but I felt like this movie was closer to what happens in real life. In truth, the story doesn't actually tell you what happens to Eleanor Parker's character but you can guess. The acting is incredible on all counts. Eleanor Parker and Agnes Moorehead give their usual standout performances but it's Hope Emerson as the matron that really steals the show. She is totally believable as the corrupt and cruel matron and I was shocked at how much I was rooting for the criminals. Her portrayal of the matron was so well done that it could easily be applied to todays standards of good vs. evil. Great movie, great acting.