Tawdry “women in prison” films became a staple of drive-in over the years. For an early – and less smutty – take on the topic, we go to 1950’s Caged.

Tom Allen attempts a robbery and dies during this crime. His pregnant 19-year-old wife Marie (Eleanor Parker) gets convicted due to her tangential involvement.

This sends her to the penitentiary, where warden Ruth Benton (Agnes Moorehead) promises to help Marie’s rehabilitation. However, Marie must contend with Evelyn Harper (Hope Emerson), a sadistic “block matron” who torments the young woman.

Given its era, obviously we can’t expect the “R”-rated shenanigans that became a trait in 1970s and later “women in prison” flicks. For those of us who enjoy a good old-fashioned catfight among naked women in the shower, this comes as a drawback.

On the more positive side, though, it feels likely that Caged will at least deliver a more reality-based take on the topic. Without all the “sexploitative” material found in later generations, this one seems likely to need to rely on characters and real drama to succeed.

Not that Caged fails to allude to controversial topics. While the era’s censorship meant the film couldn’t overtly specify various domains, Caged does coyly allude to lesbianism and other taboo areas.

This also means Caged couldn’t become quite as brutal as the subject matter might dictate, though it can deliver a surprisingly harrowing experience at times. In particular, we see more and more severe measures as Marie’s time in prison progresses and get a darker view of the situations.

Created in a period where “social commentary” films seemed to be in vogue, Caged uses the Moorehead character as the main conduit to relate these concepts. It seems too bad that the movie doesn’t give her a lot more to do than lecture, though the talented Moorehead ensures she feels more vital to the narrative than otherwise might become the case.

As our lead, Parker can feel like a bit of a dud. For much of the movie, she simply plays Marie as sad and despondent, until almost literally overnight, she turns cynical and hard-bitten.

While I get the film’s accurate desire to show how prison hardens more than it rehabilitates, this change of tone still feels artificial, and Parker just doesn’t bring much to the part – though I respect her willingness to let them actually shave her head for a crucial scene.

Much of Caged feels more interested in its cast of colorful characters than Marie anyway. These come across well, and Emerson’a matron provides a suitably nasty piece of work in a role that needs to be persistently mean and unsympathetic to succeed.

Caged feels up and down, mainly due to its lack of real plot and its inconsistent tone. Nonetheless, it acts as a surprisingly impactful effort that packs a punch.

Caged appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a typically positive Warner Archive presentation.

Overall sharpness satisfied. A few shots came across as a bit soft, but the majority of the flick appeared well-defined and concise.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent, and light grain cropped up through the film – maybe a bit too light, as I thought some noise reduction may’ve been used here. If so, this wasn’t heavy-handed.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows seemed smooth and clear. I liked this appealing image.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack seemed more than satisfactory given its age. Speech could seem a bit brittle but the lines remained intelligible and without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded slightly shrill but remained acceptably lively, and effects followed suit, as those elements appeared thin but without distortion or issues. The soundtrack worked fine for its vintage.

In addition to the film’s trailer, the disc includes a 1950 animated short entitled Big House Bunny. In this one, Bugs tunnels into Sing Song Prison to escape hunters but finds himself stuck there when he encounters jailer Yosemite Sam (here called “Sam Schultz”).

None of this explains why he doesn’t just tunnel his way back out, of course, but no one goes to Looney Tunes cartoons for logic. This Friz Freleng-directed affair works reasonably well, even if I’d not call it a classic.

We also find an August 2, 1951 Screen Director’s Playhouse Radio Broadcast of Caged. It goes 59 minutes, 42 seconds and allows Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson to reprise their film roles.

The adaptation doesn’t cut a lot from the film and actually tightens matters, as it focuses more strongly on Marie than does the feature. It works pretty well, though Parker still lacks more than two modes: breathy/sad and cynical/hard-bitten.

Emerson remains just as detestable, at least, and we get a truly harrowing turn from the actor who plays Georgia Harrison, as she delivers a bloodcurdling episode when the role doesn’t get parole. (The end credits mention supporting actors but they don’t identify who played which roles.) This turns into an interesting version of the story.

Despite more than its fair share of melodrama and some awkward social commentary, Caged offers a fairly good look at its subject matter. Though the censorship of the era restricts its ability to offer blunt content, it still manages to convey the necessary sense of ugliness and desperation. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture, appropriate audio and a few bonus materials. This turns into a fairly solid genre flick.