Caged! dvd movie.|
Caged! buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
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List Price: $14.98 Our Price: $12.99 You Save: $1.99 Features • Black & White • Closed-captioned • DVD-Video • Subtitled • NTSC In Theaters : 19 May, 1950 DVD Release : 26 June, 2007 |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | First Rate Film About Women's Prison |
| Most films about women's prisons have very likely been pornographic to one degree or another. "Caged" is not in this category. Rather its portrait of prison life is one of depressing harshness from start to finish. The film has an unmistakable theme: most prisons are breeders of new crime and criminals. Though "Caged" was directed by a man the principal scriptwriter was a woman, Virginia Kellogg, who spent several weeks inside a woman's prison, researched conditions in others, and claimed that the scenario was a fair reflection of things that go on in such institutions.
Eleanor Parker plays an inmate who is basically naive and innocent when she goes in, but who, by the time of her release, has become utterly cynical and hardened from her experiences inside. The effectiveness of the film depends very much on Parker's performance, and it is nothing less than brilliant. She projects subtleties and nuances in her persona that enable her carry off the very challenging character transformation with full believability. The supporting cast is also uniformly excellent, led by Hope Emerson as a currupt and brutal matron, and Betty Garde, Ellen Corby, and Jan Sterling as convicts. And the director, cameraman, set designer, and lighting technician deserve plaudits for the effective deployment of light and shadow, and the construction of camera perspective that serve to put the viewer fully into the claustrophobic setting. "Caged" is a first rate film, but because of its uncompromising stance, waching it may not exactly be fun. On my first viewing, I found it harrowing. However, viewers will appreciate the artistry and craftmanship that went into the making, and especially they should savor the extraordinary performance of Eleanor Parker, who, in this and other roles, seems to have been one of the most consistently underrated actresses in American film. |
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