Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Caught Blu-ray Movie Review

The aviator is grounded.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 11, 2014

As with several other of his American films, the “H” and umlaut didn’t make it into Max Ophüls’ surname on his Caught directing credit, but there’s little doubt that this is an Ophüls film. This penultimate American offering by the director who would soon return to France and give the world a string of classics like The Earrings of Madame de... and Lola Montès finds Ophüls in typically melodramatic mode, replete with the kinetic camera style which became one of Ophüls’ defining characteristics. Though the film is sometimes classified as a noir, it really has little true noir ambience, and instead might be better thought of as a cautionary tale which elucidates that oft quoted adage “be careful what you wish for”. The film offers a relatively rare lead performance from Barbara Bel Geddes, an actress whose oeuvre included everything from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway to Vertigo, but who, in one of those inexplicable vagaries of show business fame, is probably best remembered for her tour as matriarch Miss Ellie in the long running nighttime soap opera Dallas. Here Bel Geddes portrays a young and naïve girl who works as a car hop in Los Angeles, but who has dreams of hitting the big time, which of course in those days meant snagging a rich husband. Bel Geddes’ character changes her first name to Leonora while attending a “charm school” (run by future Gilligan’s Island “Lovey” herself, Natalie Schafer) in the hopes that it will help her secure the same kind of in store demonstration modeling jobs that her roommate Maxine (Ruth Brady) has been getting. It doesn’t take long for the newly rechristened Leonora Eames to find work modeling the sort of fur coats that would have PETA in an outrage some decades later, and during one of these department store stints she’s approached by a kind of oily little man named Franzi (Curt Bois), who invites her to a party that weekend being given by his boss. Leonora is initially uninterested, politely but firmly refusing Franzi’s repeated requests. It’s only after Franzi shoves his boss’ business card into the crook of Leonora’s arm that her interest is finally really piqued. Franzi works for one of the richest men in the world, the ruthless Smith Ohlrig (Robert Ryan).

Leonora is still unsure of what to do, but Maxine makes the good point that “girls like us” need to take advantage of every opportunity to meet higher class males, and that Leonora would be a fool to pass up this golden ticket. As it happens, Leonora has a bit of luck on her side, for while she misses some travel arrangements Franzi had set up for her to get to Smith’s yacht, while she waits alone at a dock, none other but Smith himself pulls up in a little motorboat, trying to get away from the rabble on his larger craft. He doesn’t initially let Leonora know who he is, but soon enough the two have introduced themselves to each other, and Leonora is more than happy to take a ride with Smith to a business conference. It’s only when Smith ends up taking her to his expansive mansion that Leonora begins to have second thoughts, insisting to her happenstance date that he take her home. It would seem that any nascent romance has been nipped in the bud.

The film then briefly detours into a somewhat comic scene with Smith at a psychoanalyst’s office (with Art Smith once again portraying a shrink, much as he did in another recent Olive release, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid). The good doctor and Smith are reviewing Smith’s inability to deal with anyone who doesn’t bow to Smith’s overweening sense of power and control, which evidently includes the recalcitrant Leonora, whom Smith has given up on after she has repeatedly refused to give in to his amorous advances. Some psychobabble ensues which elicits a defensive reaction from Smith, where there right in front of the doctor he calls Franzi to set up a trip to Arizona with Leonora so that the two can get married. The doctor wisely avers that Smith is doing this just to prove the doctor’s thesis wrong, and that the two would be spouses are heading for disaster under such circumstances.

Caught then segues to a post-wedding world (after a brief but humorous montage showing the press’ reaction to a car hop “landing” a millionaire) where Leonora has her first qualms about the marriage. She insists to a visiting Maxine that she actually loves Smith, but she also admits that she knows Smith thinks she married him for his money. Maxine’s curt “no comment” probably sums up the public at large’s perception of the marriage as well. Once Smith moves Leonora back to his east coast digs on Long Island, the sweet young woman finds herself isolated, forced to listen to Franzi’s incessant piano playing while waiting for her husband to occasionally show up in between “more important” business dealings. When Smith finally does return to the homestead, he berates Leonora in front of his associates, and finally the erstwhile car hop and model discovers she has a little backbone, moving out of her comfortable existence and attempting to find her own way in the world.

Leonora soons finds work as a receptionist at a busy clinic shared by two doctors, Dr. Hoffman (Frank Ferguson) and Larry Quinada (James Mason). Leonora proves herself to be a more than competent assistant and ultimately attracts the eye of Larry, who knows nothing of her past. Leonora seems willing to put her history behind her and forge a new chapter with Larry, at least until Smith shows up at her squalid flat one night, telling her he’s come to his senses and wants her back. A night of passion soon dissolves in the cold light of day when Leonora finds out from Franzi that Smith is about to depart on a huge public relations tour and that having a wife by his side would no doubt help his image. She decides she’s better off back at the medical clinic.

From a plot perspective, there’s not much surprise in how things end up in this somewhat twisted love triangle, but how screenwriter Arthur Laurents (supposedly adapting a novel—more about that in a moment) and Ophüls get there is quite interesting. The film paints Smith as a sociopathic tyrant who is out to control everyone within arm’s reach (and maybe beyond), and once Leonora discovers that her recent stay with Smith has resulted in pregnancy, she becomes a prisoner in the Ohlrig mansion. While there was evidently some connection in the original source novel between the character of Smith Ohlrig (whose surname is suspiciously close to “oil rig”) and one Howard Hughes, Ophüls, who had a nasty run in with the “richest man in the world” during the shooting of Vendetta, took the idea and ran with it, creating a portrait of a hypochondriac narcissist who is barely able to control his frequent bouts of rage. Ryan is mesmerizing in this role, seething with a whole host of Freudian tics and creating an unforgettable depiction of a man who finds out his control only goes so far.

Perhaps because of the vividness of that performance, Bel Geddes and Mason come off as relatively bland by comparison. Mason has little to work with as the stalwart working class hero, but he does bring a bit of panache to a comic scene in a club where Larry takes Leonora on a date, only to be repeatedly interrupted by a drunk woman who obviously has eyes for him. Bel Geddes is perhaps a bit too passive for such an ambitious character, but she has some great moments here, including a fantastic tracking shot where Leonora responds to panicked screams by Smith late in the film, where her face seems to suggest she’s capable of murder.

The real star here, though, is Ophüls, who manages to craft memorable sequences out of what on their face would seem to be unpromising scenes. The showiest moment here is a fantastic little sequence in the doctors’ office after Leonora has disappeared with Smith. Each doctor has their own room on opposite sides of the reception area where Leonora typically sits. Ophüls almost cartwheels around the empty desk as Larry and Hoffman discuss her absence from opposite sides of the set. It’s a potent example of a master filmmaker ringing every possible stylistic point out of what might appear to be lackluster expository material.

Caught Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Caught is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. This high definition presentation is pretty much completely in line with other catalog titles of this vintage that we've seen from Olive. The elements have manifold scratches, flecks and specks, but nothing that ends up being that distracting. Contrast is very strong, with inky blacks and decently modulated gray scale. Sharpness is perhaps a bit more variable here, not helped by frequent opticals including lots of lap dissolves during montages that only increase softness and grain. The image is stable, however, without any problematic compression artifacts. As with virtually all Olive releases, while no restorative efforts have been made, similarly no intrusive digital alteration of the image harvest has been done, and the result is a dated looking but filmic presentation.

Caught Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Caught's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix isn't especially full bodied, but it delivers the film's dialogue and the sometimes intense score by Frederick Hollander quite well, with good fidelity and no problems worth mentioning.

Caught Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with most Olive catalog releases, there are no supplements on this Blu-ray disc.

Caught Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Caught is an often effective melodrama that never truly falls within the traditional strictures of noir but which at least shares an oppressive and moody ambience with that genre. The film is a testament to the inimitable style of Ophüls, and lovers of film technique will delight in the director's many flashy but never intrusive camera moves. The cast is colorful (watch for a brief cameo by future June Cleaver Barbara Billingsley), with Robert Ryan giving one of the most impressive performances of his career. Technical merits here are very good, and Caught comes Recommended.