April 2025

Caught: A Lost Noir Classic

This article originally appeared in AC May 1998 After Adolph Hitler rose to power in Germany, many distinguished filmmakers fled the country. One was Max Ophuls, an important director in both Germany and France, who struggled to gain a Hollywood foothold after emigrating to America in 1941. Ophuls survived numerous minor, anonymous jobs and a traumatic experience trying unsuccessfully to write and direct Vendetta for Howard Hughes and Preston Sturges. He then directed four American pictures: The Exile and Letter From an Unknown Woman (both 1947), Caught (1949) and The Reckless Moment (1950): though all were excellent pictures, none achieved financial success. Enterprise Productions, Inc., which produced Caught, was established in 1946 by...more