Cage of Gold (1950)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Ealing Equals Quality. Basil Dearden does it again with depressing noir ahead of its time. Like Pool Of London, it bravely broaches taboos ten or more years before most film-makers.

The beautiful Jean Simmons always adds a touch of class to whatever film she stars in, and when she is the victim of an evil plot, she makes the perfect waif. Once married to the sinister David Farrar, she remarried after his presumed death and several years later, he shows up out of the blue and threatens her with blackmail. Simmons, pushed to the point of no return, takes the obvious step to get rid of him, but can she do it? Only the London fog will know as second husband James Donald traipses through it. Unfortunately, the bulk of this film is all talk, some good photographic effects and editing, but the rest of the movie is as slow moving as that foggy day in London town. Little suspense, unfortunately, drags this on, and while Simmons is an appealing heroine, she's dealing with a formula script that has little heat, even considering the subject matter. Farrar and Donald play complete opposites, showing ironically how one dimensional each of their characters are, while Simmons manages to make her character multi faceted.

I am so used to seeing David Farrar as an army or police officer that it was quite a shock to see him as a rather nasty blackmailer and smuggler.Though clearly Jean Simmons prefers him to the rather more sober and down to earth James Donald.However Farrar runs off to Paris as he doesn't want a quiet married life and his wife is not able to support him in the manner to which he is accustomed.From then on the story is fairly familiar territory.It is entertaining but utterly predictable.Much of the climatic action takes place in a pea souper in London,the type of which used to kill thousands of people over the years.In fact given the uncertainty of the murderer before the end you might have guessed that the fog killed him!

This type of meller was very much the staple fare in the British film industry in the immediate post-war years and into the early fifties. Not too much wrong with that if you like formulaic plots of the kind you would find in the 'Women's' magazines of the day. This is the one about the charming con man and the choices that people make in life. Heroine Jean Simmons is faced with choosing between the dashing, charming, rake, David Farrar, who lives off his wits and women though not necessarily in that order, and dull as a wet Thursday in Scunthorpe James Donald who offers security - he's a doctor - and Ovaltine at bedtime, whilst Donald himself has the choice of Mayfair money for doling out placebos to hypochondriacs or joining his father as a local GP serving the community. It's hokum, of course but everyone gives it their best shot and in addition to the leading trio we get the likes of Bernard Lee, Herbert Lom, Harcourt Williams, Gladys Henson, Gregoire Aslan and Madeleine Lebau. Worth a look.