Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

bkoganbing As so many of her contemporary movie queens of the past decade Olivia DeHavilland went into horror films It's a sad commentary on the lack of roles she was getting at that point. By the next decade she was not doing this sort of film any more.In Lady In A Cage she plays a housebound woman who is recovering from a broken hip and had a special elevator installed for her use. She's rich and does poetry on the side and she's kept her son William Swan tied to her apron strings. When he leaves for the 4th of July weekend an accident happens and the power goes out while she's stuck in mid air in that elevator.When it rains it pours. A wino played by Jeff Corey breaks in and starts stealing a lot of expensive things. He brings in a partner a very frowzy Ann Sothern who's seen her share of men and booze. While trying to fence some of what they've stolen they attract a trio of Charles Manson wannabes played by James Caan, Jennifer Billingsley, and Rafael Campos.So while all of them party and menace DeHavilland they also aren't happy with each other, the different generation of thieves.I have to say Caan made an impressive screen debut, he was one frightening dude. Campos who usually played nice kids is also one nasty strung out individual. Billingsley was beautiful, but she'll be Sothern in 10 years and also strung out.Olivia's other venture into the horror genre was Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte and Lady In A Cage is not as good as that one. But it does have its moments.One thing that was overlooked. Being trapped as she was there certainly was no opportunity to use any facilities. Those 48 hours or so in the cage might have made it and Olivia really smell.Other than not accounting for that Lady In A Cage was an OK horror film

sol- Stuck halfway up her home elevator during a power outage, a wealthy widow finds herself powerless to stop thieves who wreck and loot her home in this aptly titled thriller starring Olivia de Havilland. It all sounds quite lurid and watching the film is far from pleasant, however, things get very interesting towards the end as de Havilland's mothering comes under scrutiny and as we are treated to more and more exterior shots. While almost all the action is mainly confined to her home, it is what occurs (or does not occur) outside that is most interesting. None of the passers-by or drivers on the busy road outside her home react at all to the panic alarm bell that she frequently rings (until one thief disconnects it). There are also several grisly occurrences on the porch of her house, but again nobody seems to notice and a plethora of cutaways to cars zooming past without stopping injects incredible tension. The acting almost sinks the film though. James Caan is excellent in an early career performance as the slightly unhinged leader of the gang, but de Havilland seems to be in a scenery-chewing competition with co-star Jeff Corey. The way de Havilland constantly narrates her thoughts aloud also comes off as annoying unnatural. The vast majority of the film is good news though. It is hardly the most delightful or subtle social commentary thriller under the sun, but it does manage to make some interesting points about how detached we tend to be from tragedy around us as per an unforgettable early shot of a young girl running her skates over a homeless man's legs.

BA_Harrison The Saul Bass-inspired credits for 1964 psychological thriller Lady in a Cage immediately bring to mind the work of Alfred Hitchcock, as does the film's single location and its high-concept: a rich woman trapped in her lift is tormented by opportunist thieves who ransack her home.But director Walter Grauman is no Hitchcock.Grauman lacks the sheer class and style of Hitch, his film being a lurid, trashy little effort boasting a heavy-handed cynical message about how people in Western society have become indifferent to the suffering of their fellow man (or in this case, woman).Walt's handling of his material is completely devoid of subtlety, and his cast follow suit by gleefully overacting at every available opportunity, with star Olivia De Havilland's hysterical, melodramatic central performance being particularly comical (her rapid descent into despair, her sudden outburst of 'Alouette' and the faces she pulls while writing terrible poetry in her head are all priceless!).With a dead dog, a wino stabbing, talk of decapitated women, and assorted sadistic brutality courtesy of young thug Randall Simpson O'Connell (James Caan, channelling Marlon Brando), the intention was clearly to shock the audience, but the final product borders on high camp (something that lends the film a certain cult appeal) and frequently proves tedious, all of which prevents it from being the truly disturbing classic it was clearly intended to be.

Charlene Lydon This is a one of those films where the set-up says it all. It caught my eye on Amazon and I thought it sounded like the greatest film ever. I have never heard anything about it but I figure if it attracted Ms. De Havilland, it have some merit, right? I was so titallated by the set-up that I had no doubt in my mind that this was going to be the best film ever. I was right! The film begins with a darling little setup of a 30 year old man, Malcolm, living with his kind but overbearing mother. He is going away for the 4th of July weekend, leaving behind a suicide note for her to find when he is already gone. It is clear that they have a strange relationship as he jarringly refers to her as "darling" (shudder!!). Soon after he leaves, due to a power cut, Mrs. Hillyard find herself trapped in an elevator they had installed since she broke her hip the year before. Hot and panicked, Mrs. Hillyard tries to free herself but soon finds she may be safer where she is when a string of nogoodniks break into her house with trouble in mind.I don't want to give away too much about the plot but the reason I found this film to be so charming is the role of the villain. It starts out as a harmless, crazy homeless man accompanied by a down-on-her-luck ageing prostitute stealing silver to pawn but they soon become victims themselves when they are joined but three dangerous teenage delinquents. Later in the film, Mrs. Hillyard's own conscience places her as the villain, at least in her own mind. She sees herself as a monster, which in some ways she is, bringing the circle of villainry to almost a perfect circle.The people around her are so busy getting away for 4th of July weekend that they fail to notice her strife despite her use of a fairly effective alarm a number of times. A shot, during the opening credits of a dead dog lying by the road, ignored by passers-by is gory and distressing and foreshadows a later scene in which Mrs. Hillyard tries to get help out on the busy road outside her house.The relationship that is built between Mrs. Hillyard and the ringleader of the delinquents (a very young, very intense James Caan) is interesting, particularly an exchange between the two in which she begs him to show mercy on her as she is a living breathing human being, to which he replies that he is an animal. This is how the film ensues. He is an animal. He is a frightening, menacing character and the moral and physical content is quite shocking for a film from the 1960s.Now, it should be noted that this is exploitation cinema. It is not your typical Olivia De Havilland affair. It is low-brow, it is visceral and it is full of (effective) shock tactics. Admirably gory for such an early film, Lady in a Cage delivers a string of unexpected twists and turns and never fails to deliver horror and melodrama in equal measure. Olivia De Havilland is a class act as usual, and the chemistry between her and James Caan illustrates the enormous generation gap that existed in the early sixties and highlights the running theme throughout the film which was integral in most of these fear-mongering, moral high ground films about juvenile delinquents; fear of the future.This is a film that (at least for me) has everything. It has a classy leading lady, a truly frightening villain, a high-concept setup and a charmingly exploitative accusatory tone, rampant on the early sixties, regarding young juvenile deinquency. Highly recommended and you can pick it up here for the stupidly cheap price of £1.50. Enjoy!