This is a gripping and sometimes truly shocking drama which depicts how a young wife (Eleanor Parker), caught up in the crimes of her husband, is convicted as an accidental accessory - and being 19, naive and fearful, has a rough go of it as she attempts to navigate the power struggles among the inmates and the prison staff - without losing her hope for a brighter future. Based on months of research by writer Virginia Kellogg, this is a surprisingly realistic window into a women's prison, and does not pull many punches on the conditions, and types of corruption, pitfalls and mayhem that a young girl could experience in such an institution. Given this, the film feels modern and is so immersive that you start to feel you too are locked within these 4 stark walls by about halfway through. Here and there it drifted into melodrama (which I don't mind) but if you can forgive the film this, you are in for a real treat. Eleanor Parker gives an Oscar-nominated performance (that should've garnered her a trophy) as her wide-eyed character zig zags to survive through this harrowing ordeal. Among her prison cellmates, there are plenty of co-stars here who also come across as if they were real-life characters, despite some having only very minor parts - such is the acting on display here. Plenty of stuff happens, some of it wild, which could fill a whole season of a streaming show but here is packed into 96 mins very deftly and with devastating effect. The politics of the jail beyond its walls, and within, are masterfully intertwined with clarity, sophistication and nuance. Tagged as a film noir, there are a few noirish shots (and some incredibly framed shots) throughout but, besides that, there is an atmosphere of despair and cynicism, of helplessness and hopelessness, as well as the stifling oppression of being the victim of forces beyond one's control, courtesy of some especially sadistic prison staff. Best of all, as the movie ended, I thought to myself: " Well, I was definitely not expecting THAT!" and I think you will too.