“House of Women”: No Holds Barred “B” 1962

 

Stars behind bars: the cast of 1962's 'House of Women' from WB.

WB’s House of Women is really a rehash of Caged. The main difference is the ‘62 semi-remake is a “B” flick and 1950’s Caged was an Oscar-nominated hit. The one thing they have in common is many campy moments! But House of Women’s camp is cartoonish, whereas the earlier Caged’s comes from censorship era coded innuendo.

'The House of Women' are ready to rumble. Love the look on Constance Ford's face!

Then-ingénue Shirley Knight is surrounded by a veteran cast of familiar faces: Barbara Nichols, Virginia Gregg, Jacqueline Scott, Patricia Huston, Margaret Hayes, Virginia Capers, and Andrew Duggan. Two future soap grande dames, Jeanne Cooper and Constance Ford, are on opposite sides of the bars in this pulp prison picture.

Shirley Knight gives a new meaning to wide-eyed as the innocent who's incarcerated.

Knight's the wide-eyed lass here, Erica Hayden, who goes along for the crime ride and ends up a convict. While Shirley’s con doesn't get her lustrous locks lopped off like Eleanor Parker in Caged, Erica also finds out that she’s pregnant. Young Shirley Knight, with long wavy hair, reminded me here of Cybill Shepherd in The Last Picture Show. House of Women from both sides of the bars have big hair, courtesy of WB hairdressers Peggy McDonald and Jean Burt Reilly.

The following scene gives you an idea of the subtle drama that is House of Women. An inmate described as “the butch" goads fellow con Doris (Patricia Huston): "Ahhh, what's so special about Troy Donahue?"

Doris snaps back, "Honey, you're the type that would never know!"

Troy’s biggest fan then hurls a handful of lunch time spuds at the inmate over the cutting remarks about WB's very own Donahue. When the critical inmate draws a moustache on her autographed picture of Troy, Doris really goes berserk! She marches straight out to the prison yard where the offender is playing baseball and the game becomes a brawl. Later, Andrew Duggan’s hard-nosed warden Frank Cole repeatedly calls Troy Donahue "Dona-who?" He asks the drunken prison doc about Troy, who pleads ignorance, “I'm more of an Elizabeth Taylor man myself.” No, I did not write the script.

When one inmate defaces an inmate fan's autographed picture of Troy Donahue,
of course you know this means war, as fellow WB star Bugs Bunny would say!

Before Duggan’s warden was hired, this women’s prison was progressive, even allowing the inmates to have their children on site for a limited time. This sets up a dramatic scene, when Erica’s kid gets taken away right before her birthday party. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a kiddie birthday party turn into a women’s prison riot! And like Caged, a kitten sparks a tragedy, followed by another riot that makes the first look like, well, a kiddie party!

The staff in 'House of Women' are mentally updating their resumes!

Constance Ford, the frigid mother in A Summer Place and later beloved as no-nonsense soap mom Ada in Another World, has a field day as a tough cookie inmate. Ford, who always reminded me of a normal version of Shelley Winters, always adds humanity with her worried eyes and downcast face. Still, Connie really chews the scenery when her Sophie Brice (as opposed to Fanny Tucker?) suffers a personal tragedy and acts out.

Connie's got a gun! Constance Ford as Sophie, who suffers a tragedy. Seeks revenge!

Jeanne Cooper, legendary as battleaxe Kay Chancellor on The Young and the Restless, is Helen Jennings, a tough but fair prison matron. But that cuts no ice with Ford’s Sophie, especially when she goes off the rails. Their two face-offs are fun, especially knowing a decade later they’d be playing their most memorable roles on daytime TV. Cooper is so restrained her that she seems about to implode, compared to Ford’s volatile con. Jeanne’s striking cat eyes and strong bone structure make her both simultaneously stunning and severe.

Jeanne Cooper as the cool but fair prison matron gives me a Catherine O' Hara vibe!

Virginia Gregg, who seems to have been in everything from the ‘50s through the early ‘70s, is most famous as the voice of Norman Bates’ mother in Psycho. Whether villainous or sympathetic, Gregg’s always solid, playing a humane parole officer singled out for Ford’s wrath.

Shirley Knight does what she can with her character Erica, but does resort to a wide-eyed waif that borders on eye-popping, not seen since WB’s Bette Davis!

Young Shirley Knight reminds me of Cybill Shepherd circa 'The Last Picture Show.'

Barbara Nichols is the loveable broad named Candy Kane—can you guess her former occupation?! Nichols, almost always the tart with a heart, is great to watch here, going from brassy to sassy, and always believable.

Barbara Nichols, left, always plays the brassy broad, but she's so good at it!

Andrew Duggan, often cast as authority figures, plays the cold and cheap new Warden Cole. Natch, he has a past that made him that way. Soon, he cast his sights on sweet Erica to help him regain his faith in womankind! Andrew Duggan is personification of a “me too” prison warden!

Andrew Duggan, he of the big head, is the hard-headed warden in 'House of Women.'

Even more drama came from behind the scenes, when tough producer Bryan Foy (of the legendary Foy performing family) fired director Walter Doniger part way through the shoot and replaced him with screenwriter Crane Wilbur. The change in the film’s quality upset star Shirley Knight enough to get out of her WB contract, not an unusual occurrence at WB with actors!

This film is cheesy camp, but very watchable, and has moments of random authenticity.

'House of Women's' prison riot, Round 1: Cooper's matron lets Ford's con choose Door #3!

Can’t get enough of broads behind bars? Check out my take on 1950’s Caged here: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2019/02/caged-never-classic-but-still-packs.html