Reviews & Ratings for
Cage Without a Key (TV) More at IMDbPro »

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Hard-hitting 70s teen drama., 31 October 2008

Author: sonya90028 from United States

I remember Cage Without A Key, being broadcast as a CBS prime-time movie in the 70s. This was when there was a sudden explosion of TV movies about troubled teens, from suburbia.

Doe-eyed, fresh-faced Susan Dey, plays Valerie Smith. Valerie is a very naive teen. She gets involved in a robbery/murder, after accepting a ride from a strange boy. He forces Valerie to help him rob a store at gunpoint, and he winds-up killing someone in the process.

Even though she was unwillingly involved in the crime, Valerie gets sentenced to a stretch in a Juvenile prison facility. The severity of her sentence is absurd, considering that Valerie had no prior criminal history. I thought that this seriously undermined the credibility, of the film's whole storyline.

Once inside the Juvenile facility, Valerie is engaged in a bewildering struggle to adjust to her new surroundings. Valerie's told from the get-go by the other inmates, that she must choose which clique to belong to. This is to ensure her survival in the 'joint'.

The inmates are a motley crew of tough, hardened young women. The members of the 'good' clique, take Valerie under their wing, showing her the 'ropes' of prison life. They also offer Valerie protection from the clique rivalries, that sometimes result in violence. A member of Valerie's clique, even rescues her from being unwillingly ravished, by an intensely amorous lesbian inmate.

The prison staff, don't seem to be able to control the chaotic environment. Valerie and her fellow inmates, are forced to rely solely on the support of their cliques, to negotiate prison life. The lawyers procured by Valerie's parents, are amazingly inept at helping make a case to free Valerie. Unable to depend on being proved innocent, Valerie becomes ever-deeply entrenched in the violent prison culture, which results in senseless tragedy.

Cage Without A Key is a powerful film. I was surprised to see such a raw, hard-hitting drama, on network TV during the 70s. It is at times, rather melodramatic. Overall though, it has some strong performances. Especially Susan Dey, as the hapless Valerie Smith. If you liked those 70s movie-of-the-week films about teens in jeopardy, then I'd recommend seeing Cage Without a Key.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
surprisingly memorable, 11 June 2007
Author: mazalhamidbar from United States

I just now "found" this film after looking for it for years. For some reason, it made a great impression on me, even though I wouldn't call myself a huge Susan Dey fan. I was surprised to see that it was made so long ago, which makes me wonder whether I saw it on a re-run. Anyway, the characters were fairly well drawn -- maybe they are stock/cliché characters that I'm simply too naive to recognize as such, not being a devotee of women-in-prison films -- but I recall the basic plot, characters and even some of the dialogue, even now. I thought there was a good ethnic mix, which strikes me as fairly forward-thinking for that time period, especially. And I liked that the squeaky-clean-imaged actress of Partridge Family fame would end up in a picture like this, albeit as the stereotypical "good girl" who doesn't truly deserve to be there.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A bit predictable but nonetheless disturbing drama!, 25 January 2003
Author: bruce johnson (bfjrnski@hotmail.com) from woodlyn, pennsylvania

"Cage without a Key" attempts to tell a rather worn-out,innocent-teenaged girl-behind bars story with a surprisingly effective disguise as a commentary on our nation's indifference towards it's troubled youth!Nonetheless "Cage without a key" reveals some heavy moments of genuine drama within it's shell of a story that we've all seen before!

The story concerns 17-year-old Valerie Smith.During her summer vacation she accepts a ride from a boy she barely knows and finds herself forced (at gunpoint) to participate in a botched robbery and charged as an accessory to a murder!Sent to the state reformatory for girls,young and naive Valerie is wrongly surrounded by the usual circle of tough lesbians,half-crazed druggies,warring gangs(called"families") and the panel of efficient and uncaring professionals who exclaim pride in their "school" and it's "rehabilitation" program!Of course young Valerie gradually becomes just like the others and even loses all hope of any eventual "release".But all in all,the movie is rather smoothly done!With some excellent and believable performances and scenery."Cage without a Key" does a good job of making us believe that we haven't seen it all before!

5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
CAGE WITHOUT A KEY, 2 October 1998
Author: connie collingsworth (printmafia@aol.com) from BOWLING GREEN, KY

TYPICAL 1970'S MADE FOR T.V. YOUTH / CRIME FILM. A YOUNG GIRL IS KIDNAPPED BY A MALE CLASSMATE AND FORCED TO PARTICIPATE IN A ROBBERY ATTEMPT.PROSECUTORS PORTRAY HER AS GIRLFRIEND AND WILLING ACCOMPLICE OF THE DERANGED BOY,WHICH LANDS HER IN A "REFORM SCHOOL FOR GIRLS" UNTIL ADULTHOOD.ONCE INSIDE, SHE ENCOUNTERS THE USUAL STEREOTYPES DEPICTED AS INHABITANTS OF THESE "HOMES"-"THE MILITANT BLACK GIRL","UNWED UNEDUCATED EXPECTANT TEEN","TROUBLEMAKING LEADER OF THE LESBIAN GANG"AND "THE SYMPATHETIC TEACHER". OF COURSE,CONFLICTS ARISE BETWEEN ALL

OF THESE PEOPLE AND WHAT FOLLOWS IS A HIGHLY ENTERTAINING LOOK AT HOLLYWOOD'S TAKE ON TEENS IN THE 70'S.

OTHER RECOMMENDED FILMS OF THE GENRE- --BORN INNOCENT --OVER THE EDGE --THE GIRLS OF HUNTINGTON HOUSE --SWITCHBLADE SISTERS {A.K.A. THE JEZEBELS}

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Laurie Partridge goes to prison, 14 July 2011
Author: lazarillo from Denver, Colorado and Santiago, Chile

Susan Dey plays an incredibly naive teenager who hitches a ride with a disturbed boy she barely knows and ends up in a girls' reform school after a botched robbery. As her parents and her lawyer fight to free her, she resists joining either of the two main gangs, but gravitates toward the "good" gang led by Edith Diaz. She incurs the wrath of the other gang led by Suzie Elene, a seemingly sweet Asian girl, who besides being an inveterate brown-noser and snitch, is also a vicious killer. A ridiculous number of the young inmates are killed and maimed before the authorities finally take notice of what is going on.

This is made-for-TV women-in-prison (WIP) movie, so naturally it is not as sleazy as the theatrical women-in-prison flicks--there are no shower scenes or lesbian scenes and the cat-fights all have fully-clothed combatants. This is not even as sleazy as the contemporary Linda Blair made-for-TV WIP movie "Born Innocent" (where Blair infamously gets assaulted by a toilet brush). Of course, some of these American made-for-TV movies like "Nightmare in Badham County" were released in a somewhat stronger version in Europe, so I'm still looking for a lost "European version" of this where Dey gets thrown naked into the "hole" with special guest star "Marcia Brady" and they have to drink the sweat off each others bodies just to stay hydrated. . .

Seriously though, this movie does have several things going for it. Dey was never known for lighting up the screen with her acting, but she was about the prettiest girl on American TV in early 70's (I suspect she was cast on "The Partridge Family" mainly because she was one of the few girls around prettier than David Cassidy) and she makes an appealing heroine. Suzie Elene is also a very nice surprise, considering she is mostly known for a particularly sleazy appearance in the sleazy 70's sexploitation flick "Revenge of the Cheerleaders". And the supporting cast includes the ill-fated Lani O'Grady ("Eight Is Enough") and future comedienne Anne Bloom. This definitely worth seeing if you like WIP and/or 70's made-for TV movies.

2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
I kind of remember this movie, 31 July 2003
Author: ebbx from Minneapolis

I would like to see this movie again, but don't feel like buying it. Some interesting points of this film are the lesbian connections, and that is why I probably remember having a liking toward it. As a 35 yr. old male now, why not? At the time, I was just 7 yrs. old, and equate it to "Jenny-portrait of a teenage runaway" with Eve Plum from the Brady Bunch. Mybe I can find it at a good video store. Yesterday I went therem, and found out they carry "Trilogy of Terror". I hope I like this just as I did back in 1975.

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