Eleanor Parker earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in this gritty prison drama as Marie Allen, a frightened 19-year-old sentenced to prison for aiding in an armed robbery. Exposing the corruption and cruelty of prison life, John Cromwell's film shocked audiences in the 1950s. Parker leads an impressive cast that also includes Agnes Moorehead, Olive Deering and standout Hope Emerson as sadistic matron Evelyn Harper.