Lady in a Cage is a 1964 American film directed by Walter Grauman

Walter Grauman

Walter E. Grauman is an American director of stage shows, films and television shows.-Early life:Grauman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Jacob and Irene Grauman, both children of German immigrants who married after settling in the United States...

, written and produced by Luther Davis

Luther Davis

Luther Davis was an American play- and screenwriter. He attended Culver Academies, received a BA from Yale and rose to the rank of major in the US Air Force...

, and released by Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

. It stars Olivia de Havilland

Olivia de Havilland

Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...

 and features James Caan in his first substantial film role.

Plot

When an electrical power failure occurs, Mrs. Hilyard, a wealthy widow recuperating from a broken hip, becomes trapped between floors in the cage-like elevator she has installed in her mansion. With her son Malcolm away for a summer weekend, she relies on the elevator's emergency alarm to attract attention, but the only response comes from an alcoholic derelict, George, who enters the home, ignores her pleas and steals some small items. The wino sells them to a fence, then visits his prostitute friend, Sade, and tells her of the treasure trove he has stumbled upon. The expensive goods George fenced attracts the attention of three young hoodlums, Randall, Elaine, and Essie. The trio follows George and Sade back to the Hilyard home, where they conduct an orgy of violence, killing George the wino and locking Sade in a closet. Randall then pulls himself up to the elevator and taunts Mrs. Hilyard with a note left behind by her son Malcolm, in which he threatens suicide because of her domineering manner. Shocked by the revelation, Mrs. Hilyard struggles with Randall, escapes the elevator, and crawls out of the house. Randall follows and, as he is attempting to drag her back inside, Mrs. Hilyard gouges his eyes and escapes his clutches. The blinded assailant stumbles into the street and is run over by a passing automobile, whereupon police arrive to arrest the surviving intruders and comfort the victim.

Cast

• Olivia de Havilland
  Olivia de Havilland
  Olivia Mary de Havilland is a British American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 and 1949. She is the elder sister of actress Joan Fontaine. The sisters are among the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s.-Early life:Olivia de Havilland...
  
   as Mrs. Cornelia Hilyard
• James Caan as Randall Simpson O'Connell
• Jennifer Billingsley as Elaine
• Jeff Corey
  Jeff Corey
  Jeff Corey was an American stage and screen actor and director who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.-Biography:...
  
   as George L. Brady Jr. aka Repent
• Ann Sothern
  Ann Sothern
  Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
  
   as Sade
• Rafael Campos as Essie
• William Swan as Malcolm Hilyard
• Charles Seel as Mr. Paul (Junkyard Proprietor)
• Scatman Crothers
  Scatman Crothers
  Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers was an American actor, singer, dancer and musician known for his work as Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and as Dick Hallorann in The Shining in 1980...
  
   as Junkyard Proprietor's Assistant
• Richard Kiel
  Richard Kiel
  Richard Dawson Kiel is an American actor best known for his role as the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker as well as the video game Everything or Nothing, and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore...
  
   as Pawn shop strongman (uncredited)
• Ron Nyman as Neighbor (uncredited)