Cage of Gold

“Judy and I have a thing for each other that takes some breaking.” British director Basil Dearden contributed more than his fair share to the noir cycle, his films often combining grittiness and melodrama in unusual formulas. In Cage of Gold, he tips all the way into melodrama, injecting blackmail and murder into a complicated love triangle. Jean Simmons plays Judith Moray, the woman in the middle, who marries the suave, seductive Bill Glennan (David Farrar) after he gets her pregnant, despite the steady courtship and romantic devotion of the kindhearted Dr. Alan Kearn (James Donald). The caddish Glennan abandons Judith the morning after the wedding when he learns she has no access to the riches he had imagined; when he’s later found dead, Judith marries the kind doctor, who agrees to raise Glennan’s child with her. This is noir, however, so it turns out Glennan isn’t really dead and returns with unfinished business. The film is beautifully designed, one scene featuring a pianist on stage inside an enormous birdcage, and often stunningly photographed, especially the second half when Dearden and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe dive into shadows and fog to symbolize the labyrinthine mess in which Judith finds herself (her shaky, nocturnal trek to Glennan’s apartment is spectacular to behold).