Did they do it all in the ‘70s with nothing left untouched when it came to storylines for cinema and TV? Revisiting little known or long-forgotten gems from the decade supports this impression. Even Sidney Sheldon was likely a bit too late to claim originality for some of his work when viewed against the backdrop of ‘70s movie troves.
In reference to Sheldon’s work, the title in view here is the made-for-TV movie Cage Without a Key, written by Joanna Lee and directed by Buzz Kulik. Aired on CBS in March 1975, the movie stars a young Susan Dey as teenage Valerie Smith, who has just graduated from high school. Forced by an acquaintance Buddy (Sam Bottoms) into a crime, Valerie’s life is tossed into a crisis when the judicial system fails her and orders her detained at a youth detention center. While her conscientious attorney Ben Holian (Michael Brandon) continues to fight for her freedom, Valerie struggles to survive confinement amid gang violence in the facility and her own battle against traumatic stress.
Those who read Sheldon’s 1985 novel If Tomorrow Comes and/or watched its 1986 adaptation into a CBS series would find it hard to miss the similarity in plot, characters, and themes. The betrayed and caged timid girl transforming into a self-defender with determination and courage defines both works so closely as to leave plenty of room for speculating that Sheldon was inspired by Cage Without a Key into creating his novel (which of course became more popular).
The differences between the two works are secondary but notable when seen in the context of genre and audience. Cage Without a Key is drama through and through with a reformative approach. The movie’s end leaves the viewer with a passionate call for prison reform including juvenile detention facilities that are prisons only under a different name. On the contrary, Sheldon’s If Tomorrow Comes takes the thriller lane with the protagonist Tracy Whitney (a grown-up woman) going after the men whose evil schemes and corruption sent her to jail.
The storyline that started with Cage Without a Key made it onward into several movies and TV shows on either side of the Atlantic. The original movie is available on YouTube as a sample of the dramatic excellence of ‘70s TV films.
About the Author
Screenwriter, editor, blogger, and reviewer Ernest Dempsey (pen name of Karim Khan), is the author of ScreenScope with Ernie, a critique of 50 movies in the sci-fi, horror, mystery, and thriller genres. He runs the movie review site Filmospheric and puts together the newsletter Filmphernalia.
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