In Mexico, the high-society Evangelina (Miroslava) is happily married with Júlio (Luis Beristáin). When her former lover Alberto Suárez (Tito Junco) blackmails her, using letters she sent to him when they were lovers, she schedules a meeting with him to recover the letters without the knowledge of Júlio. The police come to her apartment, and she claims that when she arrived near Alberto's apartment, the taxi driver and she overheard two shots and when she arrived at his apartment, he was killed on the floor. Further, she retrieves all the letters but one that was on the desk and forgets her gloves on the desk. With all the evidence against her, Evangelina is sentenced to twenty years in prison. On the arrival, Evangelina meets Alberto's lover Dora (Sara Montiel), who calls her murderer and mistreats her all the time. The sadistic chief of the guards, Major, abuses of Dora and other inmates, and soon Dora learns that she is pregnant of Alberto. Meanwhile, Júlio looks for the taxi driver and the killer of Alberto to release his beloved wife.
"Cárcel de mujeres" (1951) is a melodramatic Mexican movie with Sara Montiel and Miroslava, who died very young (30 years old). The plot is great, with Evangeline being arrested and sentenced to prison due to a murder she claims she did not commit. There are interesting characters in the prison, like the crazy Petrona, who claims that speak with the spirits, and a homeless that wants to stay in prison since she does not need to beg for eating. Another one is the prisoner that claims that was framed by her husband, who wants the divorce and has the fate he deserves. The chief of the guards is a corrupt and abusive woman as the usual cliché of the genre. The film is as graphic as possible for a 1951 movie. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Cadeia de Mulheres" ("Women Jail")
