Depravadas

This often forgotten movie is notable for having in the cast three actresses, very early in their careers, who became long term popular favorites. They are Anne Francis, Anne Jackson and Rita Moreno. All three gave fine performances showing the promise that they would all realize.

Girls coping with sadistic jailers despite efforts of kindly, gentle, understanding psychiatrist Paul Henreid in a Jean Rouverol (Mrs. Hugo Butler) script. Rita Moreno is 19, Anne Francis is 20: so young! So good!

The director, Bernard Vorhaus, had real talent, as evidenced by the undeniably powerful firehose and suicide scenes, not to mention his handling of a fascinating young cast headed by Anne Francis (who is terrific) Rita Moreno, Anne Jackson and even Mike Kellin, in a bit. Vorhaus knows how to play with light and shadow - he probably would have excelled in Noir films had he not been blacklisted - and has a knack for finding novel settings to either enhance or contrast the mood of a particular scene. (The merry-go-round scene would do Hitchcock proud.) His camera's always on the move and the editing of the film has a rhythm and a pull that keeps you involved and in suspense.

But make no mistake this is a B-film with an erratic script that falters at several critical junctures. Immediately after the sadistic worker turns the hose on the girls for setting fire to the dorm, things come to a head, with Henried and pretty Catherine McLeod angrily confronting the corrupt Head of the institution (Cecil Clovelly) and threatening to file official reports on the abuse at the school unless sweeping changes are made. Clovelly admits that if that happened there would probably be an uproar, an unfavorable investigation and he would more than likely be fired, BUT - and this is what made absolutely no sense - he gets them to back down by suggesting that if he were fired who's to say somebody even worse than him wouldn't take his place? Huh?!!! What are the odds of that? I think I'd take my chances.

Still an effective film that will hold your interest. I should also point out that the other comment about this film is inaccurate on several plot details and seems to have it confused with some other film.

Most of these films only have camp value. This one has some, but it is basically a fairly decent B movie and well acted. A definite bonus is the appearance of Rita Moreno and Anne Francis when very young. You can see what talented beauties these two women would become.

"Dr. John H. Jason" (Paul Henreid) is an idealistic psychiatrist who accepts a job at a reform school for females which has a very high rate of recidivism. After getting to know some of the girls he makes some recommendations which are completely ignored by his superiors, namely "Mr. Riggs" (Cecil Clovelly) and Miss Beuhler (Grace Coppin), who believe that a reform school should be run like a prison. Eventually, this leads to a conflict between Dr. Jason and the assistant supervisor, "Ruth Levering" (Catherine McLeod) on one side and the aforementioned Mr. Riggs and Miss Beuhler on the other. Now, rather than disclose the entire plot, I will just say that this film will probably be considered "lightweight" by current standards. There is no nudity, vulgar language or anything else that might be considered "graphic". However, it is an interesting movie all the same with a very capable cast. In that regard, I thought both Anne Francis (as "Loretta") and Catherine McLeod probably gave the best performances. On the other hand, I must also admit that there were some parts which were a bit corny at times. But that's probably to be expected with most films produced during this particular period. Be that as it may, I enjoyed this film for the most part and rate it as slightly better than average.