Max Ophuls' Caught has fine performances, great cinematography and top production vales, and it does have a core ethical message - don't go marrying for money ! - but I don't see it as the masterpiece that some viewers do. For me, the structural constraints of the melodrama format and the story itself limit the emotional and artistic heights that the film can achieve. For example, Robert Ryan is outstanding as the narcissistic, cold-hearted, ruthless millionaire who woos Barba Bel Geddes' ingenue simply because she resists him and is a "good girl". If Ophuls really intended this movie to be an indictment of capitalism, then he missed the mark by making the millionaire cartoonishly evil. Everyone, even other millionaires, will hate this man. Caught is not about the millionaire and does not spend enough time on a nuanced character development of him to turn this into an indictment of capitalism. Instead it is about the ingenue, and Bel Geddes is very good indeed. She takes us and her character on an emotional roller coaster over 88 minutes, from the simple thoughts of bettering herself to the near-deth experience of profound evil, and always with understatement. James Mason is well cast and is a very engaged, reassuring and confident foil for the millionaire. Again, it's a bit too easy a victory for good over evil.
Review of Caught
