Review of Caught

Caught (1949)
7/10
Caught
4 January 2023
The charming Barbara Bel Geddes is "Leonora", an ambitious young girl who meets gazillionaire Robert Ryan ("Smith Ohlrig") and after a whirlwind romance, becomes his wife. Snag is, that isn't all it is cracked up to be. He is a control-freak who wants her to look the part, but to be little else. Ennui sets in, and after he humiliates her for one last time before a group of his minions, she leaves him to get an ordinary job. Despite having virtually no qualifications, she ends up working for doctor "Quinada" (James Mason) with whom she gradually falls in love. Not content with losing his trophy, however, "Smith" lures her back home with promises that he will change and though she becomes pregnant, she quickly realises that nothing is improved - only now, she has a much more complicated choice to make. I think Ryan stole this for me, he plays the power-hungry husband really well, making particularly effective use of his props (some pool balls and a pin machine) during his couple of intense scenes with the increasingly independently minded "Leonora". It's a bit melodramatic at times, never my favourite - but at its best Ryan's sadism and Mason's optimism make for some interesting character clashes that I rather enjoyed watching. It doesn't so much end, as turn a page - and that works quite well, too.
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