Cult Clash: Lady in a Cage (1964)

by Pete Roberts

I first saw this film on the FLIX cable channel several years ago. I sat down and watched it, not knowing a thing about it, and it turned out to be one of those cool little movie gems you find by total surprise. It has been one of my favorite cult film thrillers ever since.

The opening credits of the film are reminiscent of Hitchcock's Psycho opening - a montage of different images broken up into bars representing the cages of life. The film itself really works as a metaphor for the many cages we find ourselves trying to break out of.

Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard (Olivia DeHavilland) is an upper-class, middle-aged widow who lives a happy life along with her son Malcolm (William Swan). Mrs. Hilyard is recovering from a broken hip, so she uses a second story elevator to get up and down from her bedroom. Her son Malcolm looks to be some kind of professional and at the opening of the film is leaving on a business trip.

In an alleyway next to the large house, the electrical wire is knocked loose by a carpenter's ladder as Mrs Hilyard gets in her elevator to return to the second floor. The wire in the alleyway is hit again and the power to the house suddenly shuts off. Mrs Hilyard waits a few minutes for the power to return, but nothing happens. She rings the emergency alarm in her elevator to see if someone outside will hear. She rings it and rings it, but no luck. We then see an old man (Jeff Corey) walking down the alley next to her house and he hears the alarm. He goes up the back door and breaks the window, unlocks it and enters the house. While he's sneaking around, Mrs. Hilyard hears something and calls out to see who's there. He looks around the house and realizes there's a ton of expensive objects he can grab, but when he sees the large wine closet, he completely freaks out. This guy is a complete lush and when he sees all the bottles he thinks he's in heaven. He grabs one bottle and then takes one of Mrs. Hilyard's porcelain statues and throws it at the wall, smashing it pieces. He then screams "REPENT!" over and over. The man grabs a toaster as he leaves the house, goes down to the local pawn shop and turns the toaster in for a few dollars. While he's there, three punk kids are in the corner of the shop listening to what he tells the Pawn Shop owner about a "big house full of expensive stuff".

The man goes to an apartment building nearby and puts two dollars underneath a door. This place belongs to Sade (Ann Sothern), an old floozy friend of his. We find out his name is George L. Brady. He tells her about the house and all the expensive stuff inside, as well as describing the wine closet and his wishes to clean the place out. She agrees to help him and they both return to the house to look for things to steal. Meanwhile Mrs. Hilyard is stuck and in trouble. Olivia DeHavilland is excellent in this role and she brings an over-the- top, melodramatic edge to her character which makes the film so exceptionally entertaining.

Just when Sade and George think they have the whole place to themselves, the three punks from the pawn shop rush in behind them. The frenzy begins. The thugs are Randall (James Caan, in his first starring role), his girlfriend Elaine (Jennifer Billingsley) and the Mexican wacko Essie (Rafael Campos). After they take over the house, the film becomes a wild trip of excitement in anticipation of what will happen next.

Lady in a Cage works because we feel Mrs Hilyard's trapped, helpless state. The editing and pacing creates a feeling of high suspense, and never relents. While the three punks torment Mrs Hilyard, Sade and George, we see how the mind of a criminal works. James Caan is wonderful as Randall. He brings a young, crazy Brando-esque quality to the role. He's a wild animal just looking to pounce on his prey, even to the point of terrorizing his two accomplices. His first encounter with Olivia DeHavilland is one of the funniest moments in the film. Her reaction to his tale of "life in reformatories" is hilarious. I can't say enough about this film. It works almost as a stage play. Classic.