In 1962, What Ever Happened to Baby This revelation gets Mrs. Hilyard in full Lake Is Missing . It would then be five Jane? burst forth on movie screens all survival mode and that’s the rest of the years before he did any more scoring over the world. It was a “shocker” and film, as she finally escapes her “cage” work, and when he came back it was one of the biggest shocks in it was see - and – well – it wouldn’t be sporting to re - mostly for television, doing several Night ing two aging Golden Age screen icons, veal any more. Gallery episodes, a few TV movies, Bette Davis and , let their some episodes of The Rookies , and hair down and dive into a genre film. Of , who’d won Oscars then the feature film To the Devil a course, because it was an unexpected for To Each His Own and The Heiress , is Daughter. He continued to write spo - smash hit, the floodgates opened and superb as the lady in a cage, doing radically through the 80s and 90s, and we soon got all manner of imitations, whatever she needs to to survive her his most recent credit is for the 2009 Ital - some good, some bad, and some in-be - horrible ordeal. Jeff Corey and Ann ian film, The Valley . But his classical tween. One of the weirdest and the best Southern are terrific, especially Miss compositions have continued unabated came in 1964 when Paramount re - Southern. And making his first credited through each decade. leased Lady in a Cage , starring Acad - movie appearance as one of the young emy Award-winner Olivia de Havilland, hoods is in a truly creepy Glass’s score for Lady in a Cage is dis - who’d already done one shocker previ - performance. The film is tautly directed sonant, creepy, jagged, and perfectly ously the year before, Hush, Hush, by , who spent most of suited to the film. There are no real Sweet Charlotte. But Lady in a Cage his directing life in TV, although he did themes here – just music of unsettling was something wholly other – as nasty three back to back features in 1964 and atonality that keeps one on the edge of as Baby Jane and Charlotte could be, 1965 – , Lady in a Cage , one’s seat and completely off-balance, Lady in a Cage was in a whole other and A Rage to Live . Shot in evocative much like the film’s heroine. In 1964 it universe. black-and-white, the cameraman was was the polar opposite of most film Lee Garmes, who’d shot many wonder - scores being written but it was ab - The plot is simple: On a swelteringly hot ful films, including SinceYou Went Away, solutely perfect for Lady in a Cage and, day, a widow recovering from a hip in - Love Letters, Duel in the Sun, Night - for its time, a fairly unique score. jury becomes trapped in the elevator mare Alley, Portrait of Jennie, The Para - she’s had installed in her home when dine Case , and many others. So, despite Since its release, Lady in a Cage has there is a power failure. Her son Mal - the film’s lurid qualities, the creative become something of a cult film. Its di - colm is away for the weekend and, too team was first class all the way. rector, Walter Grauman , is justifiably high up to get out of the elevator, she proud of its afterlife and his work on the uses the emergency button to try to Whoever’s decision it was to hire com - movie. If you haven’t seen it, it’s well summon help (it rings a bell). poser Paul Glass, it was a completely worth seeking out the DVD from Para - original and inspired choice. Glass was mount. Even now, coming up on almost Unfortunately for her, the wrong people born in in 1934. He went to fifty years, it still manages to be thor - hear it and thus ensues a torturous time USC, studied composition abroad, and oughly creepy and weird, yet somehow for Mrs. Hilyard. A wino, his prostitute soon began writing classical music. He completely entertaining and fun. girlfriend, and a sadistic trio of young made his film-scoring debut in 1957 with people get in the house and make life a a pair of films, Burden of Truth and The — Bruce Kimmel living hell for the well-ordered and very Abductors . During the late 1950s and composed Mrs. Hilyard. By the end of mid-1960s he seemed more interested the film, she’s anything but well-ordered in his classical work, but did keep his and very composed, especially when hand in with very sporadic film assign - one of the sadistic trio of hoodlums finds ments. After Lady in a Cage he did a a letter from Mrs. Hilyard’s son, in which low-budget film called Nightmare in the he says he’s going to commit suicide be - Sun , then had his biggest scoring as - cause his mother is so domineering. signment with Otto Preminger’s Bunny