There are three reasons you might want to watch 1972’s women-in-prison flick, The Big Bird Cage. 1 — You are a fan of this kind of campy exploitation. 2 — There is an amazing scene in the Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines, in which a mass mud-wrestling tournament erupts, pretty much out of nowhere. 3 — You grew up in the 1970s and had the hots for “Barker’s Beauties” on The Price Is Right. Especially sultry Anitra Ford (above and below), who modeled on the show from 1972-76.
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Bob Barker ran into a string of difficulties with the show’s models, some of whom sued the “get your pets spayed or neutered” host for sexual harassment. But Anitra, one of the two original “Beauties,” was not among the claimants — possibly because she was too busy acting in B-movies. And often getting naked in them.
The Big Bird Cage (1972) is available in high definition and is dubbed and subtitled. We are supplying our own subtitles for some of the screen captures below. (Click on any picture for a bigger view.)
The plot: The plot doesn’t really matter. Anitra’s character is in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets sent to a Filipino women’s prison, where inmates toil at a sugar-cane mill and tussle with two chunky prison guards, both of whom happen to be gay men. One of them watches Anitra shower in the scene below.
“This is how I auditioned for The Price Is Right. Bob told me to go behind the curtain and, when it opened, to show him what was behind door number three.”
“Hi, I’m actress Candice Roman. I have a nice rear end, too, don’t you think?”
“Listen dude, I know you’re wondering why I just flashed my pussy. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m small-breasted. They told me small-breasted girls have to show more to get this kind of role. So now you know.”
“Another pussy flash? All right, how’s this?”
The Big Bird Cage videos:
More plot: Meanwhile, revolutionaries played by Sid Haig and Pam Grier infiltrate the prison because, well … they believe that freeing the locked-up gals is somehow the equivalent of 1789, when French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille.
Like I said, the plot doesn’t matter.
“Does this look gay enough? Yes, I think we look gay enough. It’s 1972, after all.”
“Perfect spot for a mass mud-wrestle. Because … why not?”
“This wasn’t in the script, but who could resist a spontaneous roll in the muck?”
I would never be so bold as to assert that Ford is in league with Meryl Streep in terms of acting. But she does have a certain savoir faire, a smoldering tough-girl charisma. But not so much in the scene below, in which she’s gang-raped by three horny Filipino men. The men, no doubt, were grateful that there were no “intimacy coordinators” in 1972.
“Rip off the clothes of a hot American actress? Sure, we think we can do that.”
“Sure, I can take a moment to look between her legs. These American movies are great!”
The video:
Writer-Director: Jack Hill Cast: Pam Grier, Sid Haig, Anitra Ford Release: 1972
Anitra’s (nude) resume also includes:
Stacey (1973)
The video:
Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)
If Ford looks familiar to you, but you can’t imagine why because you don’t watch sexploitation movies or old game shows, you might have seen the California native sharing a bed with box-office champ Burt Reynolds in The Longest Yard (below).
(Credit to AZNude for the videos)
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