A gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her... Read allA gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?A gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Helen
- (as Sheila Stevens)
- Inmate
- (uncredited)
- Jeffries
- (uncredited)
- Mr. Cooper
- (uncredited)
- Commissioner Sam Walker
- (uncredited)
- Inmate
- (uncredited)
- Inmate
- (uncredited)
- Man in Car
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAfter I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) led to prison reform in six states, Warners producer Jerry Wald wanted to do the same for women's prisons and sent former newspaper reporter Virginia Kellogg out. She had written a novel that became a Kay Francis film, Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933), about a doctor who bears a child out of wedlock. She had also written well-researched original stories that were the basis for T-Men (1947), about treasury agents, and White Heat (1949), starring James Cagney as a psychotic gangster. She spent months doing research for Caged (1950) at prisons around the country, and was even briefly incarcerated in one of them. Her research is evident in the script with authentic prison slang of the era, and details of prison life, such as the caste system, and the tedium of daily life. Virginia Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld received an Oscar® nomination for Caged (1950)'s story and screenplay.
- GoofsAn inmate, Georgia Harrison, gets hysterical and breaks the window in her corridor. In this case, the window was inside the bars, which is why the glass would be in a protected and unreachable position. Instead, the bars would have been placed first inside, then the glass further away. The glass would probably be re-enforced glass with wire or even safety glass. Otherwise, an inmate could do just what Georgia did, break it. Then pieces of the glass could be used against other inmates or even prison employees. But then if the glass was safety glass, the scene with Georgia breaking the window would not have been quite so dramatic.
- Quotes
Marie Allen: I feel a little sick.
Infirmary Nurse: Get that way often?
Marie Allen: Yes, the last week or so.
Infirmary Nurse: Say, you expecting company?
Marie Allen: [mumbles] I don't know.
Infirmary Nurse: [cynically] Another pregnant one! Get up!... You know who the father is?
Marie Allen: My husband.
Marie Allen: [sarcastically] Well, ain't we gettin' respectable! Could he help with the expenses?
Marie Allen: He's dead!
Infirmary Nurse: [with contempt] Another bill for the state! Get dressed!
- ConnectionsEdited into House of Women (1962)
Moorehead's prison superintendent character was excellent and is what keeps the film from being over the top. She remains the calm, collected heart of the movie. She's a nice contrast from Hope Emerson's bonkers matron. If Moorehead and Emerson's respective characters had both been over the top nasty, then this film would have definitely been more campy. Likewise, if both characters had been like Moorehead's, then the film would be unrealistic. Emerson's matron was so delightfully horrid that you actually cheer for the Kitty Stark character in the dramatic cafeteria scene.
Lee Patrick is such a fantastic character actress and she can play so many different types of characters very well. What's delightful about many of her characterizations is that no matter how refined her character appears on the outside, there's always a layer of trashiness. The possible exception to this from the films of hers I've seen is The Maltese Falcon. In this film, she's known as "The Vice Queen" who runs a shoplifting syndicate and ends up having to serve a short sentence in the prison.
Ladies They Talk About is another favorite women in prison film of mine, but it is more of a country club prison than the one Eleanor Parker ends up in.
- AlsExGal
- Aug 11, 2018
Details
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1