HotToastyRag In Caught, Barbara Bel Geddes has two handsome men desperately in love with her. Yes, you heard me correctly. And no, it didn't make sense to me, either, especially since even her insides aren't likable in the slightest. She starts the movie as a poor girl who wants her roommate to use her influence to jumpstart her modelling career. She resents the recommendation of going to charm school, and when the sleazy Curt Bois tries to pick her up she gets offended. She dreams of becoming a model so she can meet a nice, rich man-what's wrong with her? She wants to go into the business of putting her body on display, and she doesn't expect to be ogled and disrespected? Then, when millionaire Robert Ryan picks her up, she goes along with him until he takes her home. In a panic, she says she wants to leave, but his seemingly callous remark is right on the money: "Come on, you knew you weren't just going on a drive," he says. Barbara has an incredibly unlikable character, and since she's not even remotely beautiful, it's not realistic that both Robert Ryan and James Mason would fall for her. Since both Robert and James made a career out of playing bad guys, which one will get the girl? I won't tell you that, but I will tell you that the love triangle is very true-to-life. Barbara complains that Robert leaves on business too often, but she doesn't even notice when Doctor James leaves for house calls all the time, he's doing the same thing! I liked Robert much better in this movie, because his soul was tormented and complicated, and his feelings for Barbara fluctuated just like in real life. You can watch Caught to pick your preference of the two, or you can save yourself a not very good movie and watch The Seventh Veil and Clash by Night instead.

hrkepler 'Caught' is nearly great and very ambitious film-noir exercise by great master Max Ophüls. This movie is undeservedly and too often overlooked that it is almost forgotten. Even by the fans of film-noir genre. The story revolves around novice model Leonora Eames (Barbara Bel Geddes in one of her best roles), who is gorgeous, but naive gal who has the dreams about romantic marriage with wealthy guy. At first, everything seems to be going great, but then director Max Ophüls twists and turns this fairytale about American Dream all upside down and with that he manipulates and playes with the viewer. In that era, movies about poor girl finding her wealthy prince were very popular, and they usually started and ended like fairytales. 'Caught' is using the same formula, but only in a quite sadistic way. The story winds up into the place where there can't be any good outcome, thus leaveing the veiwer in the same desparate mood as the main heroine of the story. The ending is total hack job, but one can probably understand the times the film was made and the studio system that ruled the film industry. 'Caught' is too good movie to be so unfairly overlooked.

mcmason-72160 This film includes some very good acting by Barbara Bel Geddes, James Mason, and Robert Ryan. Ryan in particular is superb as the rich abusive husband. Supposedly his character was based on Howard Hughes but he could be any rich and greedy asshole, including Donald Trump. What I found most interesting about this film is how it handles the concerns of working women in the late 1940's. In fact, this movie is a great time capsule on the fears and anxieties of women of the period. How do be financially independent. How do get ahead in the world. How to deal with the unreasonable demands of men and maintain one's dignity and independence. This movie contains many of the themes that would dominate movies 2 decades later. But unfortunately, in the end, all the female characters submit to male dominated viewpoints and never really escape their plights. But there is one issue that comes through that is most curious. The main female character, played by Bel Geddes, becomes pregnant by the evil rich Ryan character. She has mixed feelings about the pregnancy since she is no longer in love with her husband (Robert Ryan) but is in love with her new employer (James Mason). It turns out she has a miscarriage right after her abusive husband has a massive heart attack which clears the way for her to marry Mason. Strangely enough, everybody seems so happy by the death of this "baby" that it almost seems like an abortion has occurred. In fact, I would argue that this movie advocates abortion even though it is never mentioned throughout the movie. It is clear that removing an unwanted pregnancy that stands in the way of happiness is acceptable. I think it shows that for much of the movie going public in the late 1940's abortion was accepted even though it could not be discussed in public. I don't think this movie could be made today.

seymourblack-1 A naïve young woman who's been brought up to believe that happiness and contentment can most easily be achieved through the acquisition of wealth, sets out to get rich as quickly as she can and for a woman in the 1940s this, in practical terms, meant getting married to a wealthy man. After having achieved her goal, she soon becomes disillusioned when she realises that being wealthy doesn't automatically lead to being happy.Leonora Eames (Barbara Bel Geddes) is the car-hop who lives in a cramped apartment with her roommate Maxine (Ruth Brady) and harbours ambitions for a better life. To this end, she saves to pay her charm school fees and after having completed her course, gets a job as a model in a department store. One day, at the store, she's approached by an unctuous little man called Franzi Kartos (Curt Bois) who gives her an invitation to a yacht party which is due to be hosted by Smith Ohlrig (Robert Ryan). Despite Ohlrig being a multi-millionaire, she initially declines the offer but later, on Maxine's advice, changes her mind. By sheer coincidence, Leonora meets Ohlrig before she reaches the party and they share the evening together but later she turns down his invitation to go to his mansion for a drink and he drives her home.Ohlrig is a control freak who becomes incensed by Leonora not responding to his advances in the way that he thought she should and discusses the matter with his psychiatrist (Art Smith). When he's advised that his reaction is because he can't control Leonora, he decides to marry her as soon as possible to spite his shrink and to re-assert his control over events. His determination pays off and the couple are soon married but it quickly becomes clear to Leonora that she's in an abusive relationship and when Ohlrig humiliates her one night in front of a group of his executives, she decides to leave the Long Island mansion that had become a virtual prison to her.Leonora goes to live in a down-market apartment in Manhattan and gets a job as a receptionist at a busy doctors' office. Ohlrig regards her actions as an affront and tries to take back control by telling her that he's realised that he treated her badly and will change. She returns to him but after only one night together, realises that he'd simply manipulated the situation because he needed her to accompany him on a trip which he's already arranged. Leonora goes back to her job at the doctors' office and subsequently falls in love with Dr Larry Quinada (James Mason) who's a handsome paediatrician. Their relationship runs into a problem when Leonora discovers that she's pregnant by Ohlrig and he won't give her a divorce unless she agrees to give him full custody of the child. It then takes some time before the situation is eventually resolved in a way that nobody involved could have predicted."Caught" was based on Libbie Block's novel "Wild Calendar" in which Ohlrig's character was based on Howard Hughes. Interestingly, director Max Ophuls had previously been insulted and fired by Hughes when he was working on the movie "Vendetta" and is believed to have used the depiction of Ohlrig in this movie as a form of revenge against the famous business tycoon.Barbara Bel Geddes makes Leonora a sympathetic character who's absorbed the attitudes of the society in which she lives and doesn't see herself as a gold-digger. James Mason makes a strong impression as the dedicated and serious-minded doctor and Robert Ryan is fantastic as the villain of the piece. He's brilliant as the cold, cruel and manipulative industrialist whose need for consistent and total control is so strong that he suffers psychosomatic breathing problems when he can't control events and whose wealth has made him cynical, sadistic and sociopathic."Caught" is a movie that could reasonably be viewed as a piece of social commentary, a director's act of revenge or a dark melodrama and fortunately, it scores well on all levels.