Tags
1970's, Anitra Ford, Candice Roman, Carol Speed, Exploitation Film, Jack Hill, Pam Grier, Sid Haig, Teda Bracci, The Big Bird Cage, Women in prison
Film Title
The Big Bird Cage
Director
Jack Hill
Starring
- Pam Grier as Blossom
- Anitra Ford as Terry
- Sid Haig as Django
- Candice Roman as Carla
- Teda Bracci as Bull Jones
- Carol Speed as Mickie
A women in prison exploitation film, The Big Bird Cage is not what you’d call thought-provoking stuff. But neither is it trying to be; it is there to provide violence, nubile bodies and sheer shock value that is at times hard to resist.
Set in an unnamed Banana Republic, the film concerns sexy social climber Terry, who has slept with a lot of leading political figures and respectable gentleman. One night she makes the mistake of visiting a certain party in which revolutionaries Blossom and Django stage a robbery and briefly take her hostage. Django gets away but Terry is found and reprimanded for her alleged activities with the duo of rebels. Although she is innocent, no one listens and as punishment, she is thrown into a prison that also doubles as a labor camp. Here, the ladies are forced to work hard, with the most horrifying aspect being the large sugar mill at the centre of the camp that is dangerous and very deadly at times. Those who don’t conform to the harsh regime are tortured through various horrible means. Terry at first is standoffish with the other inmates, but gradually strikes up a certain friendship with a few, if only to keep the horrid conditions of the place from taking over. Elsewhere, Django’s men want to begin a revolution very soon and they want to have as many people on their side as they can get. Being mostly men, they want to have women by their sides and one of them comes up with a plan to liberate the camp. Blossom heads up this tactical plan by getting herself thrown into the prison and slowly getting the other ladies on side. Now it’s just a matter of the escape that stands in their way.
Jack Hill is a talented director who knows exactly what to supply the audience with. He doesn’t dress this film up as some big exercise in amazing storytelling, he has a simple plot with titillation and campy elements. Saying that, a bit more consistency may have benefited this film as some of it goes nowhere, but for what it is, I can say that it does the job it sets out to do with garish minutes a plenty. There is the usual content that you would expect with these films in cat fights, mud-slinging, brutality and nudity which is bound to keep audience members happy. It is unashamedly sleazy and scuzzy from the get go, when we glimpse the women of the prison under the grueling conditions, working in barely there clothing of shorts and rolled up shirts. You probably wouldn’t be allowed to get away with the half of the content in this film if you were to do it today, but one needs to remember that The Big Bird Cage was made for the drive-in crowd of the 70’s. No one then or now is really expecting a huge masterpiece of artistic and intellectual film making, they want a quick film of outrageous and shocking content. The revolt against the system and breakout from the bamboo prison is the biggest high point of The Big Bird Cage. Exciting, incredible and explosive, it gives the audience what they want in spades and is genuinely a well shot sequence of erupting violence as the ladies take revenge on their captors with ferocity and savagery. I will say that The Big Bird Cage, despite its short running time, can get a bit turgid and slow in parts(with a kick needed to start it up again), but it is made up for with the sheer overheated nature of the piece that overwhelms you with just how far it goes on the implausible scale and dubious it can get. My advice is to switch your brain off and leave analytical thinking far behind when it comes to this film as deep rumination will get you nowhere.
Character development is pretty much zilch in The Big Bird Cage, though some of the cast do better than you would expect from acting in a chicks in chains flick. Pam Grier is a bad ass from the beginning of the film; sexy, aggressive and handy in a fight, she is a tough cookie who can scrap her way out of just about anything. Pam Grier is great here with abrasive attitude and huge sex appeal, yet when is she never not good? Anitra Ford is a little wooden and bland as the girl chucked into the prison, though her acting gets better as the film progresses and she settles in to the part instead of just posing every five minutes. B-Movie staple Sid Haig is obviously having a ball playing the hot-blooded bandit Django, with sleaze and panache forming a most peculiar but watchable presence. Candice Roman, Teda Bracci and Carol Speed flesh out the other captives the best they can, though each doesn’t linger as long in the memory as Pam Grier.
It’s a questionable movie of tastelessness and sleaziness, but in the tradition of B-Movies, The Big Bird Cage hits the spot on that level and has a certain trashy and scuzzy appeal to it. And anything with Pam Grier in is worth watching, right?
beetleypete said:
I haven’t seen this, but it sounds like classic b-film exploitation stuff in every way. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t watch it of course, as Pam Grier can make the most potentially awful film watchable.
Cheers mate, Pete.
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vinnieh said:
Yep it’s real B-movie stuff Pete. Buxom figures in revealing outfits, cat fights and nudity abound.
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beetleypete said:
Sounds better already…
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vinnieh said:
I had an inkling that little description would raise your interest!
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fragglerocking said:
‘Women so hot with desire they melt the chains that enslave them!’ 😂😂😂
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vinnieh said:
When I saw that tag line, I thought to myself ‘Who comes up with this stuff?’
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fragglerocking said:
a sleaze bag with a teeny tiny pecker I should think 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Haha, you could be on to something there Fraggle.
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vinnieh said:
I must say Fraggle, that comment really made me laugh a lot.
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fragglerocking said:
😀
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vinnieh said:
I nearly fell off my seat laughing!
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Pimpf said:
Never seen that one but just seeing Pam Grier on the list of actions makes me want to see it 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Pam Grier is such a feisty presence on screen.
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Blog Andrew said:
I’ve never heard of The Big Bird Cage, a fascinating review.
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vinnieh said:
It’s a 70’s movie that is largely forgotten nowadays from what I’ve read as exploitation films don’t really get made any more.
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Jason Luna said:
That tagline killed the shit within, haha! As always, awesome review. Kapow!
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vinnieh said:
It is one outrageous tagline isn’t it? I liked the way you put kapow on that comment.
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Jason Luna said:
I feel so flattered whenever I’m on your blog- haha! My ego, nooooo!
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vinnieh said:
What makes you feel so flattered on my blog?
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Jason Luna said:
I’m being entertained. You’re easy to approach and responds quickly- y’know? Not all people does that anymore. Some days I’m at peak. I hangout all day in WP- commenting on other people’s stuff only to find out that I’m being ignored. This makes sense, right? 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I like to hear that Jason. I think it is good to get back to my followers with replies when I can.
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Jason Luna said:
Fair enough. 🙂
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vinnieh said:
And I like to entertain my followers with my content. Which is probably why I try to make my blog as varied as possible.
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Jason Luna said:
I try to make better contents too every single time- we’re awesome, lol. I kinda feel like I’ve improved, a little bit..
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vinnieh said:
Your comments are really good and nice.
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Jason Luna said:
Aww, thank you very much Vin. Yours are still better than mine- and I’m looking forward to achieving that level of wisdom! * evil laugh *
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vinnieh said:
Love the evil laugh.
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Paul S said:
I’m fairly sure I’ll need a shower, after I’m done watching this one.
Great review, as always!
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vinnieh said:
With some parts of this film, most definitely. In others, you’ll be picking your jaw up off the floor!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Oh heavens! That poster alone. You probably won’t be surprised, but I don’t think this is for me Vinnie.However, I agree with you and Pete. Pam Grier can be in the worst movie, yet still shine!
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vinnieh said:
Yeah, I sort of knew that the poster would get attention as it is pretty brazen to say the least. Pam Grier can be in the biggest piece of shit going and it would still be watchable. Excuse my language.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I completely understand Vinnie.🤗
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vinnieh said:
And this movie was very in your face, to put it mildly.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I definitely got that impression.😕
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vinnieh said:
Not one for the faint hearted.
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Keith said:
“Women so hot with desire they melt the chains that enslave them”. Now that is an eye-opening caption for a movie poster! LOL
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vinnieh said:
It certainly catches the eye. The first I saw it, I thought I’d misread it. Then I looked again, and I was reading the outrageous tag line correctly!
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Heavy Metal Overload said:
Love the poster. Total genius! I’ve not seen nearly enough Pam Grier films so I’m going to have to look this out.
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vinnieh said:
I’m catching up on her movies, she is a real eye catching and strong presence on screen.
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raistlin0903 said:
Haha….lol, that tagline alone makes the movie worth the watch, but judging from all the responses above I guess I am not the only one that thinks so 😂 Great post, keep saying it, but love the variety on your blog: great stuff indeed 😀
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vinnieh said:
It’s a brazen and outrageous tag line, which is sort of the point.
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Rincewind said:
Haven’t watched this one but think I give it a try especially after yr comment “Buxom figures in revealing outfits, cat fights and nudity abound.” That sounds quite Ok. 😆
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vinnieh said:
If you enjoy those three things, this film will thrill you.
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ninvoid99 said:
This definitely seems like my kind of movie.
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vinnieh said:
It’s not for everyone but it has its appeal.
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raistlin0903 said:
Completely off topic (lol), but I have nominated you for the Unique Blogger Award: you can find it here : https://raistlin0903.wordpress.com/2016/11/13/unique-blogger-award/
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vinnieh said:
Cheers for nominating me, I find it nice that you thought of me.
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fragglerocking said:
Hi V~man, I watched a movie last night with Pam Grier in it, Ghosts of Mars, John Carpenter movie. Don’t know if you’ve maybe seen it but as she is in it (along with Natasha Someone and Jason Statham,) I though of you. It’s on Sky ATM.
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vinnieh said:
Appreciate you thinking of me. No I haven’t seen that film, so thank you for putting it on wavelength.
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fragglerocking said:
I think you’d like it, its a cross sci-fi/horror.
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vinnieh said:
You have piqued my interest that’s for sure!
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fragglerocking said:
🙂 it’s a bit bonkers and gory but I enjoyed it strangely.
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vinnieh said:
I was just thinking, I thought you didn’t like horror that much. Oh well, there is a first time for everything.
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fragglerocking said:
well it bombed at the box office apparently and I can see why, but it’s a good fun horror if you know what I mean.
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vinnieh said:
Appreciate that info. I am a sucker for trivia.
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TBM said:
I love Pam Grier, but I never heard of this one. Sounds like a good escapist type film.
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vinnieh said:
Yeah, you don’t have to really think when watching something like this. Just revel in the shocking content!
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keepsmealive said:
I’ve not seen this one, but I wanna! Pam Grier FTW!
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vinnieh said:
Palm Grier is rocking it in the movies I’m seeing of hers.
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keepsmealive said:
I think you’ll find she rocks consistently!
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vinnieh said:
Yep, I can agree with that assessment.
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Dude the cleaner said:
Such a long time I have not seen it. It has not come in my country but I saw it when I was in the States a while back. Nice review.
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vinnieh said:
This was my first exposure to the film.
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Bird Animal Nature and Wildlife Photography said:
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