the tone of this film, that was filmed in 1964 was ahead of its time.
the social issues discussed and the point of the story was written, acted and directed superb.
i seen this film as a kid and just rented it on netflix.
10/10
I agree. It was way ahead of its time, as well as underrated. Back then, it was probably considered obscene to most, but it definetly was prophetic. I love the film's score also, as well as the opening credits.
shareAnother hearty agreement here. Often unfairly dismissed as a shabby expoloitation film, LADY IN A CAGE transcends its freak show roots through artful direction, a wonderfully eccentric score, a sweaty claustraphobic atmosphere (you can almost feel the humidity in the midsection of the film) and bravura performances by Caan and especially brave Olivia, who is unafraid to give a go-for-broke melodramatic performance, which stops just short of caricature. When I finally got around to watching this movie, I was staggered to learn what an unfairly maligned masterpiece it truly is. 10/10.
Robert Altman
1925-2006
RIP
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This movie's fantastic-love all the actors in it and the plot is wonderful. It's a shame it's not better known.
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In a way, LiaC is the first movie of the 60's (the real, cultural 60's; not the chronological 60's of course). The subtext of this movie is the utter helplessness induced by the Cuban Missile crisis and the Kennedy assassination* . . . . which eventually led to the palpable nihilism that we're all familiar with in the late 60's.
* With a June '64 American release, it's no stretch to suggest that it was produced in the winter of '63-'64.
Another hearty agreement here. Often unfairly dismissed as a shabby expoloitation film, LADY IN A CAGE transcends its freak show roots through artful direction, a wonderfully eccentric score, a sweaty claustraphobic atmosphere (you can almost feel the humidity in the midsection of the film) and bravura performances by Caan and especially brave Olivia, who is unafraid to give a go-for-broke melodramatic performance, which stops just short of caricature. When I finally got around to watching this movie, I was staggered to learn what an unfairly maligned masterpiece it truly is.
In a way, LiaC is the first movie of the 60's (the real, cultural 60's; not the chronological 60's of course). The subtext of this movie is the utter helplessness induced by the Cuban Missile crisis and the Kennedy assassination* . . . . which eventually led to the palpable nihilism that we're all familiar with in the late 60's.
* With a June '64 American release, it's no stretch to suggest that it was produced in the winter of '63-'64.
I just watched Lady In a Cage again! From I remember of Who Killed Teddy Bear it was a better movie if only for its state of the art NYC ambiance, half-early (or pre-) John Lindsay "Fun City", half-Apocalypse Now, already on the road to Midnight Cowboy.
Lady In a Cage is sort of the L.A. version, set, fittingly, in broad daylight, it's effective but works up too much of a lather, tries too hard to shock once the electricity goes off. It should be as batsh!t crazy as the young thugs that invade the lady's home but scenarist Luther Davis was apparently reading Freud when he penned this one, as its ambitions are as a fancy and over-articulated as the lady's poetry.
Still, I enjoyed it for what it was. It failed to take off into the stratosphere, as it lacks the polish of the Robert Aldrich-Bette Davis geriatric horrors. Livvy and most of the cast are fine, though Jeff Corey on a good day is difficult to just look at; and on bad days he's downright painful.
It's a decent time capsule, though, as "plugged into the 60s" as anything from that era, one can see the decade unfolding along with the plot; and the decade did indeed play out like a sleazy strip tease, making Lady In a Cage strangely prophetic: James Caan came to an end that stirred memories of the death of Bobby Kennedy. This is not a comfortable thought to ponder, but there it is, all the same.
Intriguing film. I'm glad I watched it.
8/10
LADY IN A CAGE was released the same year as KITTEN WITH A WHIP. Both films dealt with the invasion of suburbia by mindless punks out for kicks. In both films, the victims have been chosen at random; they're simply in the path of the thrill seekers. American society was really changing in the early-mid 1960's, and these films reflect that.
LADY IN A CAGE has the one line of dialog that mentions "the welfare state." Referring to the punks, that line makes the film feel like the horrific fever dream of a right-wing conservative who truly believes that the country is going to hell.
One of the worst films I've ever seen. De Haviland must have been seriously strapped for cash and how Caan ever worked again is a mystery. Just godawful in every respect.
shareAll this "social commentary" stuff towards which the film gestures, feels quite out of place and tacked on in this exploitation romp, desperately trying to give the unwholesome proceedings a manner of relevance and respectability yet only succeeding in making it come across as annoyingly pretentious. Otherwise though it's a relatively gritty and unnerving little picture, featuring some interestingly impressionistic camerawork. A nasty little number, very much of its time - and the times were changing rather quickly back then; its release would have been almost unthinkable five years earlier and yet it's relatively tame by the standards of the early 1970's.
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan