Eleanor Parker plays a naive young woman who helps her no-good husband in a robbery. Parker is sentenced to prison, where, despite the compassionate efforts of warden Agnes Moorehead, she is subjected to the cruelties of Amazonian matron Hope Emerson. The new prisoner's only "friend" on the inside is shoplifter Betty Garde, who teaches Parker all the tricks of her profession, hoping to recruit the girl as an accomplice upon release. Reeling from the twin tragedies of her husband's death and her miscarriage, Parker becomes as hard and cynical as her cellmates. Paroled, she faces an uncertain future on the Outside, as the warden observes resignedly that the girl will be back behind bars before long. Far superior to the general run of "women in prison" epics, Caged avoids such pitfalls as a happy ending or cliched characterizations. Eleanor Parker might well have been an Oscar contender for Caged had it not been for a powerhouse 1950 nominee lineup including Bette Davis, Judy Holliday and Gloria Swanson.
