Warner Bros.
Starring: Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Hope Emerson, Betty Garde
Directed by: John Cromwell
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: A hard-biting drama about a nineteen-year-old girl named Marie Allen (Eleanor Parker) who finds herself in prison after her young husband attempts to rob a gas station with her in tow. She desperately struggles to play by the rules until she can obtain an early parole, but an unexpected pregnancy, a viciously cruel matron (Hope Emerson) and countless setbacks threaten to turn her into a hardened criminal, despite the best efforts of the sympathetic prison head (Agnes Moorehead.)
Cat BUrglar (Scene Stealer): One night when Marie Allen is returning to the cell block she finds a kitten in the snow. She sneaks the animal inside, hoping to keep it as a pet. This little kitten belongs in jail for being a complete scene stealer! Named Fluff (Marie Allen plays it safe with the name since she doesn’t know the kitten’s sex), the tiny stray not only steals the scenes in which it appears but the hearts of every female inmate as well.
Kitty Carnage Warning! It is sadly predictable from the moment that Marie Allen finds the kitten that it will come to no good end, and unfortunately that ends up being the case. The scene in which she finds the kitten dead after the girl’s riot is not only heartbreaking but a bit disturbing, since the kitten does appear to be dead. We can only hope the kitten was simply sedated to appear dead (not that that is an acceptable practice, either, but perhaps better than the alternative.)
Final Mewsings: Kittens drinking milk are just as fascinating as passing trains to women in prison.
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