Review of Caged (1950) by Dave H — 18 May 2015
Not the exploitative "Caged Heat" type women-in-prison flick you might have been hoping for. And certainly not an inspirational/buddy Shawshank-angle either. This is a compelling, noirish, depressing, cynical view of women's prison that is sadly as relevant today in many ways as it was back in 1950.
The kindly warden in this flick takes the view that the focus of prisons should be rehabilitation. Everyone else takes the view that prisons should perpetuate themselves and justify their existence by installing a revolving door.
Depressing as hell, but that's obviously the way is was back then too. Worth a look - the only true black hat is the wicked Matron (fantastic perf by Emerson), the only true white hat is the warden.
The only males are the corrupt, judgmental parole board and polis. There aren't any brutal Queen Bee's amongst the women prisoners, but they are all given nice shadings, from the not-quite-totally-naive to the not-quite-totally-cynical.
The journey of the lead character from one to the other rings true. And makes me angry for how often it still happens today.
This review of Caged (1950) was written by Dave H on 18 May 2015.
Caged has generally received very positive reviews.
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