Caged (1950)

An early entry in the subgenre of women behind bars, John Cromwell’s Caged is about a married 19-year-old (Eleanor Parker) who is locked up after a botched bank robbery in which her husband is killed.

Hope Emerson plays sadistic prison maven, Evelyn Harper, in a story that reveals that prison may be the most corrupting influence of all.

The film was nominated for three Oscars.