A young expectant mother fights for justice and motherhood inside a women's prison.
HOUSE OF WOMEN
What The Streets Don't Teach This Jail Does!
A young woman, Erica, is wrongly implicated in a crime and sent to prison for five years, where she faces deplorable conditions. With the aid of the warden, she sets out to prove her innocence.
Quick Answer
House of Women is a 1962 American crime drama directed by Walter Doniger and Crane Wilbur about Erica Hayden, an expectant mother convicted of robbery and sent to a women's penitentiary, where she struggles to keep her child and prove her innocence.
Programmer's Pick
They don’t call it a women-in-prison drama for nothing—House of Women packs in all the institutional grit, from stuffed animals on prison beds to a predatory warden with a soft spot. Shirley Knight’s Erica brings heart to a tough genre, proving that motherhood and injustice are a combustible mix.
— SassyFlix Programmer
Overview
Why This Matters
Director Walter Doniger was replaced by Crane Wilbur just 10 days into shooting, with Wilbur taking over both writing and directing duties for this 1962 crime film.
Cast & Crew
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Why Cult
Experience the institutional routines and personal struggles of women behind bars, centered on motherhood and survival.
The film uniquely explores the challenges faced by expectant mothers incarcerated in a system with harsh rules for parental bonds.
Andrew Duggan’s Frank Cole brings complexity as a warden whose fixation on Erica shifts the balance of power inside the prison.
With a parole hearing and her daughter’s fate both looming, the film ratchets up tension around the ticking clock of the prison’s rules.
Scene Gallery
Questions from the Vault
Who directed House of Women? +
House of Women was directed by Walter Doniger and Crane Wilbur.
How long is House of Women? +
House of Women has a runtime of 85 minutes.
What genre is House of Women? +
House of Women is a crime drama.
Where can I watch House of Women? +
You can watch House of Women on SassyFlix.
What happens to children born in the prison if their mothers can't find guardians? +
According to the institution's rules, a child can stay with their mother in prison for three years; if no guardian is found by then, the child is put up for adoption until the mother is paroled.
