The Avengers (TV Series) The Gilded Cage (1963) User Reviews

Honor Blackmon Gets to Act!

[create · 7/10 · 8 March 2015]

Cathy Gale goes undercover to lead an elite group of criminals on a heist of one of the richest gold reserves in the world. Nothing is as easy, however, as these top crooks have their own effective methods of sweating out spies and double-crossers – very, deadly methods.

The Gilded Cage is an Honor Blackman dominated episode. We don't see Dr. Gale, the scientist, or Mrs. Gale the patriot adventurer, however. In this episode, we see more of Cathy Gale, the human being.

Three scenes are of note. In one scene, Gale is falsely accused of murder, and it looks like a perfect set-up. As Cathy barely holds it together, you could feel her panic. In a scene following this, Mrs. Gale, still having trouble keeping her wits, is being questioned. She might reveal something that could get her shanked in jail. Maybe it's her survival instincts that kick in to save her. And the final scene is when Cathy is pleading for her life.

This episode really showed the dangers of the work John Steed's agency specializes in. Dr. Gale might have survived the Mau Mau in Kenya, but these guys are more trained in ruthlessness. The Gilded Cage, Man in the Mirror, and A Chorus of Frogs adds fuel to One-Ten's disdain of Steed's use of amateurs in his work.

Realism dominates the Cathy Gale era. And the producers seem to keep going back to the well to shake up the formula. I think it works. Tension seems to be what the creative staff is after, and what better way to do it than through acting.

It was a great bit of acting for Blackman, btw. I would not be surprised if this episode is her favorite. It's definitely her best acted. She is neither over-the-top, nor out of place in her emoting. How Gale is able to recover from the trials she must endure adds more to the Dr. Gale mystique than subtracts from it.

Only some story logic lapses trips up this tale. They try to resolve it at the end, but it does seem weak compared to what they put in the beginning efforts.

A true link to another American series.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 7/10 · 6 May 2019]

I won't repeat the link between this episode and GOLDFINGER, so obvious, even for the dumbest. But the scheme of Cathy Gale taken prisoner just to let her think that she is actually under custody in a real jail, this cheme reminds me strongly some MISSION IMPOSSIBLE show topics, when the lead team managed to push an ennemy to talk, reveal some secrets. Or you can also find this similar topic in Georges Seaton's 36 HOURS. One more point, in this episode, you have a Black character, not so usual for the era. But maybe you have some more in the next or previous Honor Blackman seasons. I have not seen them yet. And you can see a good heist sequence. I am a heist topics lover.

Honor Blackman plays Goldfinger...and loses

[kevinolzak · 8/10 · 31 January 2011]

"The Gilded Cage" could almost be a dry run for "Goldfinger" (some five months before the James Bond feature began production), with Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale leading a group of professional criminals on a gold heist. Steed believes that wheelchair-bound mastermind John P. Spagge (Patrick Magee) will eventually take the bait, but is surprised when Cathy is promptly arrested for Spagge's murder. Previously seen in "Killer Whale," the dependable, eccentric Patrick Magee makes a fine, bitter villain, with Norman Chappell another standout as his snobbish butler, who admires Steed's exquisite taste in clothes (Chappell appeared in five other episodes, "Dance with Death," "Dead of Winter," "Dial a Deadly Number," "Murdersville," and "Fog"). Other series veterans include Neil Wilson (previously seen in "The Frighteners"), Fredric Abbot (previously seen in "Killer Whale"), Alan Haywood (previously seen in "A Chorus of Frogs"), Geoff L'Cise (previously seen in "Death Dispatch"), Martin Friend (later seen in "The White Elephant"), and Douglas Cummings (later seen in "The Wringer"). This marks the fifth and final appearance of Steed's dog Sheba, although its name is never mentioned (no more dogs would appear for the remainder of the series).

Cathy is sentenced to hang and Steed is shot!

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 1 June 2017]

Steed and Mrs Gale have come up with a plan to entrap aging criminal mastermind J. P. Spagge. He claims to have retired but the idea of stealing three million pounds worth of gold might just get him to bite. Steed approaches him with the plan, explaining that Cathy works at the gold depository and has come up with a plan to rob it; she just needs a team to help with the robbery and somebody to take the gold afterwards. Things don't go as expected; shortly after Steed's visit to Spagge Cathy is arrested for his murder! The next thing she knows she is waking up in Holloway Prison and is told she has been tried and sentenced to hang. It later emerges that this is just a test by the team of robbers to make sure she is genuine. Once they decide they can trust her the planning for the robbery is discussed. Meanwhile Spagge, who is not actually dead, learns that Steed is in contact with the police so sends a man to shoot him.

This is a really good episode; it was fun to see Cathy Gale taking the central role. Honor Blackman was on top form; she really makes the viewer believe that Cathy is genuinely confused and then scared as she is told that she is to hang. The story itself is gripping with plenty of interesting characters; I liked the fact that not all of the villains are unsympathetic. The execution of the robbery is well done and leads to a fine finale that once again puts Cathy in real danger. The story is made all the more enjoyable by the knowledge that Honor Blackman would go on to star in 'Goldfinger'; possibly the most famous film about a gold heist. Overall I'd say this was a superior episode.