John Chard
Cage Rage!
Lady in a Cage is directed by Walter Grauman and written by Luther Davis. It stars Olivia de Havilland, Jeff Corey, James Caan, Ann Sothern, Jennifer Billingsley and Rafael Campos. Music is by Paul Glass and cinematography by Lee Garmes.
If you trawl for reviews of this film you will find pretty much all the cinematic words used to describe a non big budgeted mainstream film that many love. Re: Cult, Camp, Schlock and etc, what ultimately transpires with Lady in a Cage is a film that everybody should understand why some love and some hate it. One film lovers camp schlocky classic is another one's irritatingly over acted bore. I'm close to being in the latter camp.
It start off so well, the Paramount logo in cage stripes, a jarring score, a dead dog in the road and superb opening credits that segue into in your face fast cuts. Then story pitches wealthy Cornelia Hilyard as being trapped in a elevator cage in her home (she's recovering from a broken hip see), being all alone she's forced to use the alarm system, which brings into play unsavoury and unstable characters to blight and torment home and woman both.
The big message beating at the pic's black heart is so heavily handled by the makers it ends up boorish, rendering shock factor as zero. Come the mid-point the overacting on show by all - including the once magnificent de Havilland - is almost unwatchable. In fact much of it ends up being laughable, so as one is meant to feel repulsion at the stink infecting the human race, one is instead pondering the implausibilities of it all. There's a scene where Cornelia should simply push her chief tormentor out of the cage, but no!, the over cooked screenplay wants to cram in a load more daft human foibles before reaching its finale.
We even have a case where two characters in the play, one a key player in proceedings, don't have their fates revealed. Not in a crafty cliffhanger way, but in a lazy forgetful piece of hackdom. You have to say its effective because it draws you in with its unpleasantness - both as an observation on the human condition and as poor film making - so much so you have to stay with it to the end. Perhaps that is job done, then? But really it's one that this viewer personally could not recommend at all. 5/10
