Referring to the title as Lady in the Cage, a 17 May 1962DV item reported that Muriel Landers would star opposite Joan Crawford in a new motion picture for director Ralph Nelson. The 16 Aug 1962 LAT added Robert Webber and Elizabeth Montgomery to the cast, and claimed that Nelson would also share producing duties with screenwriter Luther Davis. Although Lady in a Cage was already set for United Artists (UA) release, the 8 Jun 1962 DV stated Crawford would first film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962, see entry) for Warner Bros.
       Around that time, however, the 14 Sep 1962 DV announced Nelson’s decision to postpone Lady in a Cage until he completed work on another UA project, Lilies of the Field (1963, see entry). During this brief hiatus, Crawford left the production, as the 3 Dec 1962 LAT stated that the leading role had been offered to Rosalind Russell before it was accepted by Olivia de Havilland. Crawford instead reunited with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? co-star Bette Davis and director Robert Aldrich for Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964, see entry). Ironically, she also dropped out of that role during filming, and was replaced once again by Olivia de Havilland.
       By early the following year, the 17 Jan 1963 DV noted that television director Walter Grauman had assumed Nelson’s position, marking his theatrical motion picture debut. Now serving as sole producer, Davis approached Ann Sothern to play the prostitute, “Sade,” which many contemporary sources indicated was a decision to cast strongly against type. A 28 Jan 1963 DV item stated Joan Connors was also tested for a role.
       Shortly before the scheduled start of production, a 14 Feb 1963 DV news story announced that Paramount Pictures had taken over distributing duties from the independent company, Continental Distributing, Inc. The budget was set at $500,000, with de Havilland and Grauman participating in a share of the profits.
       According to a 6 Mar 1963 Var production chart, principal photography began on 18 Feb 1963. Interiors were shot on the Paramount studio backlot in Hollywood, CA, while a 15 May 1963 DV item revealed that a house in the Westlake Park neighborhood of Los Angeles doubled as the exterior of “Mrs. Hilyard’s” mansion. A 1 Mar 1963 NYT article noted that two elevator stalls were built on the set: one that rested nine feet above ground level, and another on the floor, which allowed for horizontal camera angles and close-ups. Grauman told the 21 Feb 1963 LAT that he expected a total shooting schedule of seventeen days, and the 25 Mar 1963 edition confirmed that de Havilland had finished filming her role in just fourteen.
       Prior to release, the 22 Apr 1964 Var announced that a paperback novelization of the screenplay would be published by Popular Library.
       According to a 13 May 1964 Var schedule, Lady in a Cage was scheduled to open 29 May 1964 at the Roosevelt Theatre in Chicago, IL. The 27 May 1964 Var and 11 Jun 1964 NYT review indicated that the New York City engagement began 10 Jun 1964 at twenty-two area theaters. Citywide screenings began in Los Angeles two months later, on 12 Aug 1964. The 27 Jan 1965 Var reported North American distributors’ grosses of $1,850,000 to date.
       An 11 Mar 1964 Var article detailed how Lady in a Cage was part of a hew horror subgenre of “shock” pictures featuring older female stars that was inspired by the success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The picture raised considerable controversy for its exploitation of graphic violence, which the 15 Apr 1964 DV reported, “drew multiple objections” from Production Code chief Geoffrey Shurlock. In a piece for the 21 Jun 1964 NYT, critic Bosley Crowther called it “reprehensible” for projecting “sadism and violence for violence’s sake.” Although invited to participate in the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, the film was prohibited from receiving a general release there, as indicated in the 17 Jun 1964 DV and 27 Jan 1965 Var. U.K. censors also initiated a ban, as a 10 Nov 1965 Var article stated that the picture’s inclusion in that year’s London Film Festival marked its first public screening in the country.
       Lady in a Cage was the first credited feature film role of actor James Caan.