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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Virginia Kellogg (screenplay)
Virginia Kellogg (story)
more
Release Date:
19 May 1950 (USA) more
Tagline:
The Story of a Women's Prison Today! more
Plot:
A naive nineteen year old widow becomes coarsened and cynical when she is sent to a woman's prison and is exposed to hardened criminals and sadistic guards. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination more
User Comments:
"Grab A Last Look at Free Side Baby" more (34 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Eleanor Parker | ... | Marie Allen | |
| Agnes Moorehead | ... | Ruth Benton | |
| Ellen Corby | ... | Emma Barber | |
| Hope Emerson | ... | Evelyn Harper | |
| Betty Garde | ... | Kitty Stark | |
| Jan Sterling | ... | Smoochie | |
| Lee Patrick | ... | Elvira Powell | |
| Olive Deering | ... | June | |
| Jane Darwell | ... | Isolation Matron | |
| Gertrude Michael | ... | Georgia Harrison | |
| Sheila MacRae | ... | Helen (as Sheila Stevens) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
96 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
In order to do research for the film, Virginia Kellogg pulled some strings to incarcerate herself in a woman's prison. What she wrote once she was out was not so much a screenplay, but a kind of almanac of everything she witnessed while in prison. Warner Bros. then got their screenwriters to make a screenplay out of it. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Marie Allen announces that her kitten has died, the cat opens its mouth. more
Quotes:
Evelyn Harper: Come on you tramps - line up for Christmas. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch (2005) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (34 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Caged (1950)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Now on DVD from Camp Cult Classics! | x2frnz |
| Notes on CAGED | JSlack3 |
| Eleanor`s performance | jeffreylincoln |
| Parker vs. Portman | ifmanwould |
| Barbara Bates? | duke1029 |
| TRIAL REFORM | godzillasking |
Recommendations
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| Chicago | House of Women | Call Northside 777 | Black Mama, White Mama | Requiem for a Dream |
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Crime section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |

The film I like to compare Caged to is not a male prison film, but rather to The Women. Although there are minor male roles in Caged and The Women have no men in it, make no mistake, this film shows a woman's world.
The world of the women's prison is light years away from those society Republican matrons of The Women, but in terms how they act it ain't too much different. It's just that things are a lot more raw than they are on free side.
The film is seen through the eyes of protagonist Eleanor Parker who drew a one to fifteen year sentence on a robbery in which her husband was killed. Due to the influence of the prison even with a relatively compassionate warden like Agnes Moorehead, by the time she leaves she's as tough a cookie as those she met and dealt with as fellow cons and as matrons.
Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson as the wicked matron Harper both received Oscar nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively. Parker lost to Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday and Emerson was beaten out by Josephine Hull in Harvey. Yet the whole film is so well cast it seems a shame to single out just those two performers.
Two of the most interesting characters were Betty Garde as a tough con who runs the cell block until an enemy in the person of Lee Patrick who is a society madam arrives for a short term. There rivalry unwittingly sets up a lot of tragedy all around.
In the pre-Stonewall Hollywood, lesbianism saturates Caged as it does in few other films. Hope Emerson is always singled out, but there are more than hints of it in the characters of Garde, Patrick, and Moorehead. Look also for good performances by Ellen Corby as the loopy murderer of her abusing husband and Jan Sterling in on a prostitution rap.
I think if the cast of The Women were ever thrown into prison as they are in Caged, I think the behavior would be exactly the same. They can afford to be more civilized in some of the richest acreage of free side.