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

Framed by her vicious drug-dealing boyfriend, Rudy, innocent Carol "Jeff" Jeffries finds herself behind bars in a dark Philippine prison somewhere in the lush jungles of Manila. There, always under the thumb of the sadistic lesbian warden, Alabama, Jeff comes face-to-face with the cruel reality and the extreme conditions of the hellish jail, forced to endure daily humiliation and brutal torture. In the past, many have tried to escape Alabama's horrible purgatory; however, all have failed. Can Jeff and the dirty inmates of Devil's Island pull off a brazen prison break?

---

Plot Keywords:

sexploitation | murder of a nude woman | nudity | exploitation | women in prison | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

---

Certificate:

R

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.

---

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.

---

Alternate Versions

West German theatrical version was reedited by the distributor to include hardcore sex scenes.

---

Connections

Edited into Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

User Reviews

A classic example of a 1970's women-in-prison film.

There have been a lot of movies with the theme of beautiful women being locked in prison and abused by the warden. This film is a classic example of that theme.

Pam Grier, the black movie queen of 1970's "B" movies, is the sadistic warden of a women's prison in a foreign country. Two of the prisoners attract her attention - a hot-blooded redhead, and the prison-informant blonde. The redhead is in prison on charges of murdering her husband. I can't remember why the blonde is in prison, but then that doesn't really matter in the film anyway. Let's just say that the redhead and the blonde don't get along, and the warden utilizes her own distinct form of justice when they get into a fight.

The redhead is taken into the warden's "play room", stripped naked (we only see the upper half), has her arms pulled up over her head and is then locked into some boots, which are then slowly cranked apart to spread her legs wide. A brazier's flame covers her modesty for most of this scene, as the warden taunts her a bit and then pushes the brazier forward - "This is our version of the hotfoot!". Cut to a scene of the women working in the field as the redhead's screams echo through the prison walls.

Later on there's a prison riot and the blonde irks the warden. To punish her, the warden strips the blonde (this time a restraint strap covers the actress' modesty) and binds the prisoner to a wheel and spins her around. After a few rotations, the warden tries to taunt the blonde into submission, but instead of surrendering, the blonde spits into the warden's face. In retaliation, the warden pulls out a trident and stabs the blonde as she's spun on the wheel some more.

Eventually the blonde and redhead team up and escape from the prison, and are pursued by the warden and her guards. The prisoners kill off the guards, capture the warden, and leave her tied to a tree as they flee to freedom.

The movie is worth seeing if you like women-in-prison films. Not much gore, and the only nude scenes are the ones described above, but what's there is worth a late-night or afternoon screening. People probably won't think of you as a cinematic genius, but what do you expect for a 1970's prison film?

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