mark.waltz If Katharine Hepburn can have a gay son Sebastian, why not Olivia de Havilland? This mother of all mothers, grasping and clinging in spite of her genuine love for her son Malcolm, has driven him out of her house with her determination to hang onto him. She has been in an accident which created the necessity for an elevator to be put into their upper middle class neighborhood home. Malcolm has left her a letter asking for his share of the estate and pretty much releasing him from her life. She is to give him her answer at a certain time when he calls, but unfortunately, fate is against her, with a power outage leaving her trapped in her elevator as a group of juvenile delinquents invade her home and terrorizing her.An old hooker named Sadie (played by veteran Ann Sothern in one of her great performances) also invades with a pawn broker, and the terrified de Havilland is not only forced to watch her valuables be stolen one by one but be psychologically tortured when one of the thugs (a young James Caan) reads the letter to her, making her sound just as monstrous as the thugs invading her privacy. This horror drama is a metaphor for the way society turned after World War II with neighbors basically beginning to not be so neighborly and an antipathy towards humanity taking over the world where nobody seemed to care anymore about anybody but their own. With chilling music, eerie photography and a modern sensibility that still resonates today, "Lady in a Cage" is unforgettable.Even if several moments become truly camp in the way in which they are presented, the fact is still there that in recent history, humanity has become very inhuman, that we pass each other by without a thought outside our own existences, and that we've left the basic rules of "Love thy neighbor" behind in church, even if we still go. De Havilland is at times totally over the top as when she talks to the buttons in her precious elevator, asking them "Now what the hell's a matter with you?" That's Rafael Campos, a veteran Latino actor from "The Blackboard Jungle" and "Trial", as Caan's violent side-kick, and he's unapologetic of making his thug character a total animal without any human feelings. Young Caan briefly does show a more human side as he looks on at De Havilland in horror as to realizing what kind of person she is and perhaps recalling his relationship with his own mother that made him head down wrong paths. So while this film at times can make you laugh at it, there's also a bit of guilt in doing so because such horrors still exist today and show no signs of disappearing.

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.

winstonfg "Savage" (the word used by another reviewer here) is absolutely right. This is gut-churning 'petit cinema' at its best, and not because of any overt schlock, but because of the mindlessness of it all. Imagine a particularly raw Rod Serling double-feature and you'll probably come close; but this isn't television.I've been watching some late sixties movies recently, and I've been surprised at how plot-less they all seem - people simply doing whatever they feel like, for good or ill, with no judgment from the filmmaker or the story as to their actions - and very often with no ending at all, simply an idea that this was just a slice of existence.This is just such a film: an existential, nihilist slice of time. There's no attempt to explain the actions of the protagonists; they're just there, and the results are brutal and disturbing. It also has a slightly stagey feel to it, which makes me wonder if it wasn't an adapted play; and the black-and-white stock definitely helps to bottle the atmosphere. There is an ending, and it's nasty too. No Hollywood pink ribbons here.If you like your films on the strange side, and don't mind them raw (and believe me, this one still is after nearly 50 years) give it a look. The actors (particularly James Caan and Olivia de Havilland) all do their jobs very well, but at the end of the day I can only give it an 8 because it left one gaping question for me:Why?

Scars_Remain I heard this movie would be perfect for a double feature with 1963's The Sadist and that is definitely a true statement. It's definitely effective and chilling and it holds up super well to this day. I think the best part about it is that it moves slowly but keeps the viewers glued in, wondering what exactly will happen next. It's similar to Hitchcock's style so anyone who likes classic thrillers will love it.The story was very well thought out. A woman who's hip is broken gets trapped in her own elevator while a few people attempt to rob her home. The acting is convincing and the characters are frightening. Fans of classics need to check it out!