Women in Cages (1971)

American women prisoners in a foreign country. Sex and action.

Director:

Gerardo de Leon (as Gerry de Leon)

Writers:

James H. Watkins (story), David Osterhout (story) (as David R. Osterhout)

Stars:

Judith Brown, Roberta Collins, Jennifer Gan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Judith Brown	...	Sandy (as Judy Brown)
Roberta Collins	...	Stoke
Jennifer Gan	...	Jeff
Pam Grier	...	Alabama
Bernard Bonnin	...	Acosta (as Bernard Bodine)
Charlie Davao	...	Rudy (as Charles Davis)
Johnny Long
Holly Anders
Dwight Howard
Roberta Swift
Paul Sawyer
Jeffrey Taylor

Storyline

Carol Jeffries (known as 'Jeff') is a naive American woman staying in the Phillipines. She is given ten years in prison after being set up by her drug-dealer boyfriend, Rudy. She endures the harsh conditions, sadistic head matron and attempts on her life, then convinces her cell-mates to try to escape with her through the jungle, in spite of the knowledge that ruthless trackers will be sent out after them.

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Plot Keywords:

sexploitation | b movie | grindhouse film | murder of a nude woman | nudity | 

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Taglines:

The dirty dolls of Devil's Island. You can meet them for a price!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Philippines USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 1973 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Playpen

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balatbat Productions, New World Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Alabama in True Romance (1993) was named after Pam Grier's character in this film. In the original script, Clarence even mentions that the name sounds like a Pam Grier Character.

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Quotes

Jeff: What kind of hell did you crawl out of?
Alabama: It was called Harlem, baby. I learned to survive, never have pity. This game is called survival. Let's see how well you can play it. I was strung-out behind smack at ten and worked in the streets when I was twelve. You've got a long way to go.

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Connections

Featured in Missing Reel: Women in Prison (2014)

User Reviews

Pam takes charge!

Jeff is sent to a woman prison, after being caught carrying heroine that belonged to her crime figure boyfriend Rudy. He asks her to keep her mouth shut and would try his best to get her out, but unknowingly to her he has other plans. When she arrives at the prison to do her time, she must face a tyrant of a head warden, Alabama who has a thing against American woman and a sadistic torture chamber of the dark ages called "the playpen" for certain troublemakers.

We all know the formula by now for cheap drive-in WIP features, I take it? Wrongly accused woman. Hard labourers work in the fields. Out-of-control cat-fights. Mass showering. Suffering at the hands of the head warden. Harsh terrain surrounding the prison to make it hard to escape. A gusty prison break. And finally those corrupted individuals get their up and comings. So basically the heat is on in the banana republic.

"Woman In Cages" is another quick, cheaply done Corman production, but this time Jack Hill didn't hold the helm. Instead Gerry De Leon was in the director's chair and he brought to the table a real mean-spirited and quite gloomy Philippine WIP affair. His conventional direction might lack style and cracking energy, but it's balanced out by its intrusive grittiness. The story by James H. Watkins and David R. Osterhout is rather straightforward with little lead way in its same-old-same-old actions and plodding moments, but plenty of sour and quite outlandish moments do occur. The moral card of injustice that leaks its way in comes off as quite silly and lazy. While, there's some slight wit evident, it just seems to get derailed. It mainly concentrates on the unpleasantness and sleazy nature that's drilled in constantly. In the long run these scenes might be effectively crude, but personality does lose out to this rough shtick that really does dry up proceedings. The characters don't feel as dominating; say in "The Big Doll House". Some of the actresses of that film do turn up here. Pam Grier plays the nihilistic lesbian head prison guard with such venom, but this hard-boiled devil woman glow does take away from her energetic persona. The crackling stunner Roberta Collins is in fine form as the on edge drug addict and the gorgeously biting Judith M. Brown also appears. Jennifer Gan was decent in the lead role of the glassily clueless Jeff. Music director Tito Arevalo provides a smoking; on-the-ball soundtrack and Felipe Sacdalan's cinematography methods are unsparingly grounded.

Not one of the best of the sub-genre, but well worth a look for the fans for some glorified badass whipping in this mostly dour WIP outing.