Caged Heat

83 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$180,000^[1]

Caged Heat (also known as Renegade Girls) is a 1974 women in prison film. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme (in his directorial debut) for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Erica Gavin, Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith, and Barbara Steele. John Cale wrote and performed its soundtrack music, which features the guitar playing of Mike Bloomfield.

Two later films, Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (1994) and Caged Heat 3000 (1995), made use of the Caged Heat name and the women-in-prison situation, but are unrelated to the original film.

In Los Angeles, undercover officers arrive at a motel where those inside, including Jacqueline Wilson, are trafficking illegal drugs. During the escape, an officer and one of Jacqueline's accomplices are shot, while two of them escape. Jacqueline is arrested and sentenced to 40 years inside a women's correctional prison for possession of illegal drugs and attempted murder.

Upon her arrival, Jacqueline is strip searched and dines with her fellow inmates inside the cafeteria. The next morning, the inmates are transferred to Connorville Correctional Institute for Women, under the control of Superintendent McQueen. There, they are entertained to a drag show but McQueen leaves in disgust. The next morning, McQueen reprimands Belle and Pandora, two of the inmates who organized the drag show. McQueen punishes Pandora to solitary confinement after discovering a photograph of her boyfriend inside her cell.

While showering, Jacqueline gets into an altercation with Maggie, to which McQueen threatens her with behavioral therapy. Back in her cell, Belle tells her criminal history to Jacqueline. During the next morning, Belle crawls through an air vent and steals food from the staff lounge. She gives the food to Pandora, who is still under confinement. Meanwhile, inside the kitchen, Maggie assaults one of the officers and steals her handgun. She then sets a fire and attempts to free herself, but she is prevented. Although Jacqueline tried to save the officer, McQueen sends her to the behavioral clinic, where she is given shock therapy.

The next morning, Belle attempts to steal food again, but is caught by a kitchen matron. Belle pushes her against the refrigerator, and the matron dies. She is then apprehended and taken to the clinic. Outside, the inmates are picking apples where Maggie fakes a medical accident. She assaults an officer and steals a prison transport truck where Jacqueline hitches in. They take the truck to an auto repair shop, where the mechanic helps the women to escape after an officer spots the truck.

Along the road, Maggie and Jacqueline steal a couple's car and arrive at a brothel. There, Maggie reunites with her friend Crazy Alice. Jacqueline calls her friend Sparky, asking him to create fake IDs. One of Alice's sex clients turns out to be an undercover officer, who attempts to arrest her and Maggie under suspicions of soliciting a prostitute. Both women immobilize the officer and escape.

Back at the prison, Lavelle, one of the inmates who attempted to escape, is relieved from further therapy based on good behavior, and is given a job at the clinic. There, Doctor Randolph makes Belle, who is under sedation, sign a medical form allowing him to perform psychological surgery if she wants parole. Randolph then sexually assaults Belle, which is witnessed by Lavelle. On the lam, Jacqueline and Maggie attempt a bank robbery, but a gang of male robbers have beaten them to it. Officers arrive outside the bank, and the women escape. Jacqueline decides to return to the prison to free the other inmates. Maggie initially resist, but changes her mind. They hijack a transport truck and are driven inside the compound.

Meanwhile, Lavelle alerts Pandora about Randolph's unethical behavior. Pandora injures herself and is taken to the clinic, where she holds Randolph at knifepoint. Jacqueline arrives, and holds Randolph and McQueen at gunpoint. Jacqueline and Pandora subdue them, where they, along with Belle and Lavelle, attempt to escape. Pinter, who is McQueen's assistant warden, sounds an alarm which alerts the prison officers outside. The women and the officers engage in a shootout, in which McQueen and Randolph are shot inside. The women escape into Maggie's convertible and drive off.

• Erica Gavin as Jacqueline Wilson
• Juanita Brown as Maggie Cromwell
• Roberta Collins as Belle Tyson
• Ella Reid as Pandora Williams
• Cheryl Smith as Lavelle (as Rainbeaux Smith)
• Warren Miller as Dr. Randolph
• Barbara Steele as Superintendent McQueen
• Crystin Sinclaire as 'Crazy Alice' (as Lynda Gold)
• Mickey Fox as Bernice
• Toby Carr Rafelson as Pinter
• Ann Stockdale as Bonnie
• Irene Stokes as Hazel

Jonathan Demme had produced two films for Roger Corman, including the women in prison picture The Hot Box (1972). He wanted to become a director, and wrote a script titled Renegade Girls (with input from Frances Doel) for Corman. However, the producer did not want to fund it, as he thought the cycle had peaked. Demme succeeded in raising the finance on his own, with help from Artists Entertainment Complex, a production company formed by Martin Bregman and Samuel Gelfman. Corman then agreed to distribute it through New World Pictures. Filming and post-production lasted four months from January to April 1974.^[1] Before its release, the film was retitled Caged Heat, a likely reference to two earlier prison-themed movies, Caged and White Heat, both of which Jonathan Demme discussed paying homage in his DVD commentary to Caged Heat.

For his film, Demme introduced new aspects to Caged Heat, including a satirical approach and making the sadistic warden female instead of male.^[2]

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "With wit, style and unflagging verve, writer-director Jonathan Demme sends up the genre while still giving the mindless action fan his money's worth."^[1] A review from TV Guide gave the film three out of four stars, stating "Director Demme's auspicious debut transcends the sleazy dictates of its genre and stands along with Stephanie Rothman's Terminal Island as a genuine feminist political statement in a milieu lifted straight out of the most misogynistic fantasies of men ... Steele, a cult favorite for a number of Italian horror films by Mario Bava, does a wonderful turn as the crippled, demented warden."^[3]

• Bliss, Michael; Banks, Christina (1996). What Goes Around Comes Around: The Films of Jonathan Demme. SIU Press. ISBN 0-8093-1984-5.

• List of American films of 1974

• Caged Heat at IMDb
• Caged Heat at AllMovie
• Caged Heat at the TCM Movie Database
• Caged Heat at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Caged Heat at Rotten Tomatoes