This is one of those movies you are not likely to see on TCM because there are still so many taboos in the movie. Mrs. Hilyard (Olivia de Havilland) seems to have dominated her son, Malcolm (William Swan), to such a degree that he is considering suicide. While trapped in her private elevator (the cage) due to a power outage, she is "visited" by two disconnected groups trying to take advantage of her situation: the bums, played by Jeff Corey and Ann Sothern, and the delinquents, lead by James Caan (in his first feature film role) who want to sodomize her before robbing and killing her. We, as an audience, get the privilege of witnessing how many ways they can make her suffer and struggle.This movie, along with Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), was one of de Havilland's final performances in a leading role for a feature film. In the movies to follow, she played character parts in large-cast films.

A long summer weekend is planned by Malcolm Hilyard. He is going away, leaving his convalescent mother, Cornelia, to fend for herself. Malcolm appears to be a troubled youth. We watch him write a note to his mother telling her he is about to commit suicide, to end it all. Cornelia, who is convalescing from a hip operation, does not see the note because everything conspires against her when the electricity goes out as a cable is disconnected by accident. Unfortunately for Mrs. Hilyard, she is trapped in the lift she has installed to make things easy for her. She will spend the length of the film in the elevator hanging about three stories above her living room.While Cornelia tries everything in her power to attract attention to get help, she only elicits the curiosity of George, a freak in search of something to steal. When he breaks into the house, he is surprised by the possibilities he finds. Earlier he had been at the pawn shop where the owner had no scruples dealing with hot stuff. George informs a floozy neighbor, Sade, about his good fortune, asking her to come along. Knowing about the situation with the lady of the house, they proceed to rob the place.A trio of misfits observe George and Sade carrying things from the house and they enter the place. Randall, the leader is a sadist. Elaine, who appears to be his girl and Essie, a Latino youth, cannot believe their luck. Randall proceeds to terrorize Cornelia, as well as George and Sade. These criminals have a confrontation with Mrs. Hilyard whose views on their station in life does not endear her to the criminals. The situation will end tragically.Directed by Walter Grauman, a man who made a name for himself working on television, the film feels exactly as though it was a dramatic presentation for that medium. Written by Luther Davis, the film is a curiosity we never saw. It has that 60s look typical of the era. Our main interest was to see James Caan's film debut doing a poor imitation of Marlon Brando down to the trademark tee shirt, emoting his way through the film. Olivia de Havilland goes through all the emotions of a trapped person that has to watch how her home is ransacked by vicious criminals. Ann Sothern, Jennifer Billingsley, Rafael Campos and Jeff Corey do what they can in an exploitation film that ultimately does not satisfy.

I heard this movie would be perfect for a double feature with 1963's The Sadist and that is definitely a true statement. It's definitely effective and chilling and it holds up super well to this day. I think the best part about it is that it moves slowly but keeps the viewers glued in, wondering what exactly will happen next. It's similar to Hitchcock's style so anyone who likes classic thrillers will love it.The story was very well thought out. A woman who's hip is broken gets trapped in her own elevator while a few people attempt to rob her home. The acting is convincing and the characters are frightening. Fans of classics need to check it out!

This total piece of crap was obviously made by a forerunner of the late 60s left-wing Western protester. This laughable, ludicrous "suspense" movie is all about making an anti-U.S. hence anti-capitalism statement about the oh-so horrible detachment and isolation that rule the western world, an environment in which people care only about themselves, where no one will help anyone and where things just look damn, damn grim. As opposed to the warm environments of socialist and communist societies in which people never cease smiling and where everybody is always ready to take the last shirt of his back to give to a person in need. Yeah, right...The movie is so idiotic it defies belief. What is even more preposterous that it is rated highly by critics, often described as "underrated" or "overlooked". First of all, the way De Havilland loses electricity is too stupid, even for a 60s movie: her son leaves the house, leaving behind a sort-of suicide note, and just as he is unpacking his car he hits some ladders which disable the electric cables. How brilliant! Perhaps brilliant in a simple-minded comic-book or a comedy-of-errors type story - but certainly not here. Then De Havilland rings her alarm on and on and on, but the very very evil capitalist citizens ignore her alarm, for they are too busy amassing riches and property which is all these goddamn no-good capitalist a**holes really care about, ain't it? After a while, a whino enters the house, then his fat woman friend, and then a totally ridiculous trio of hooligans who learned their acting technique in the Freddie Francis School of Mugging and Overacting.There is nothing suspenseful about this movie. It is too silly to be taken seriously, which is the main ingredient for suspense. The social commentary is pathetic, and quite embarrassing. When Caan and de Havilland have an exchange we see the left-wing stereotypes rolling in: Havilland - the selfish rich person out of touch with reality, and Caan - the hooligan who turned out so because the evil capitalist society made him so, and so the poor thing turned to violence as his only means out. So touching... *sob*...A film for morons.