Caught (1949)

Director:

Max Ophüls

Writers:

Libbie Block (novel)
Arthur Laurents (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 February 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

The story of a desperate girl

Plot:

It was her childhood dream come true. She had married a man worth millions. But her innocent dream became...

Plot Keywords:

Butler | Unhappy Marriage | Servant | Tragic Ending | Psychiatrist

Cast

James Mason	...	Larry Quinada
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Leonora Eames
Robert Ryan	...	Smith Ohlrig
Frank Ferguson	...	Dr. Hoffman
Curt Bois	...	Franzi Kartos
Ruth Brady	...	Maxine
Natalie Schafer	...	Dorothy Dale
Art Smith	...	Psychiatrist

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Company:

Enterprise Productions

Trivia:

The 1992 restoration of the film, done at UCLA Film and Television Archives, was financed by Martin Scorsese, who would direct a biopic of Howard Hughes -- upon whose life the film is based--The Aviator (2004) a decade later.

Quotes:

Leonora Eames: Posture and social useage
Smith Ohlrig: Social what?
Leonora Eames: Useage. You know, conversation, etiquette, how to pour tea
[Leonora mines this action with her hand]
Leonora Eames: , how to listen to music
[Leonora then places two fingers from her hand to her right ear]
Leonora Eames: , how to... please watch the road.

Fascinating Semi-Noir

"Caught" isn't really a film noir notwithstanding the dramatic scenes in a darkened mansion. It's more a psychological exploration of a gold digger's conversion from pursuit of the rich to love of the pure. Barbara Bel Geddes is very effective as an attractive but poor working class girl not blessed with beauty but guided by a desire for opulence.

Before she can meet the love of her life she allows herself to be swept off her proletarian clods by Robert Ryan who once again is nearly perfect as a character exhibiting crass ruthlessness topped off by a nice dollop of madness. James Mason is a very human M.D., far more likable than the saccharine-sweet screen doctors of the past. He's a pediatrician I wouldn't have minded having when I was a kid.

What is surprising is the ending of this film, one that would be inconceivable today and must have seemed weird to many, particularly women, even then. Of course I won't reveal the resolution but "Caught" is a film very available for rental and well worth the less than ninety minutes it takes to watch an excellent cast tell a good story.