TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Adeel Hail
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
Sabah Hensley
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
jeffhaller
A melodrama? You bet. But isn't every day in prison a real melodrama. The plot is pretty simple, this is a movie about characters. I can't imagine actresses having more fun than what is offered here; even the smallest roles are so well defined. The scene with Marie's mother is painfully honest in explaining how these situations are not simple. In spite of the horror, there is a lot of good humor and kindness shown in these horrifyng situations. I can't believe that anyone could find a boring second in this beautifully acted, strongly directed, knowingly written and brilliantly photographed masterpiece. You might smile afterwards over how outrageous it is, but I bet no one smiles during. One of Hollywood's greatest that somehow is forgotten today.
Doctor Leap
Well made film prison film and a must see for anyone that likes Elenor Parker, who is good, but Agnes Moorehead and Hope Emerson are even better. Emerson (nominated for an Oscar) is brutal as she commands the pregnant Marie Allen (Elenor Parker) to scrub the prison floor when she learns that Allen is unable to pay her way into a decent prison job. The use of period-contextual prison jargon makes this film extremely interesting. The one-sheet from this film is fantastic!!!! It features Marie Allen's fellow inmates: Claire, a queen of the prison vice-ring, Smoochie - a street-lamp gal, and Emma, the prison matron's patsy. Finally, similar to the ending in Johnny Apollo (1940), and to quote the one-sheet, "She was part-good before-She's ALL BAD NOW!"
Wizard-8
As others here have pointed out, "Caged" is considered to be the first true women in prison movie. Of course, being that it was made back in 1950 by a major Hollywood studio, there is really nothing in the movie that could be considered exploitive. In fact, the movie managed to pick up three Oscar nominations. Indeed, if you look at the movie in the eyes of the filmmakers, who clearly had serious intentions, the story told here is a fairly compelling one. It illustrates both the bad conditions of prisons and points out why many prisoners reoffend once back in society. The direction and acting are also professional and deadly serious. But if you have seen your fair share of women in prison movies that were made from the 1970s on, the movie has some extra interest in that it clearly served as a template for exploitation filmmakers. Many of the elements of this particular story were both recycled and hardened to satisfy the grindhouse crowd. The movie is fairly tame today and won't satisfy people looking for schlocky thrills, but if you are in the mood for a serious women in prison movie and/or want to see how the genre started, "Caged" does have more than enough interest.
PimpinAinttEasy
Caged is a fairly straightforward prison movie. It is set inside a female prison and told from the point of view of a young and innocent female prisoner. The politics inside the prison involving fellow inmates and wardens forms a major part of the film. The loss of innocence is the film's major theme. Eleanor Parker as the innocent young woman is seriously underrated. Jan Sterling from Ace in the Hole also makes an appearance in a small role. The film's final scene when Parker enters a car full of men establishes the complete corruption of her soul. I had never heard of Parker before I watched this film. She is beautiful and her tortured expressions (like when she tries to save the kitten) made you feel for her. She even shaves her hair off for the role. The actress who played the mean and sadistic warden was very good too. There are some finely/cleverly composed shots in this film. Like the one right after the prison riot. The head warden is admonishing the rioting females and behind her two junior wardens hold torches which provide the lighting. The warden's face is not visible so even though she is shouting at the prisoners, we don't really know what she is really thinking. It is noir cinematography at its very best.
