The Caretakers (1963)
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Synopsis of The Caretakers
A "bad movie" with a fervent fan following, The Caretakers is set in a bleak mental institution. Joan Crawford plays the hard-bitten head nurse (we first see her taking a karate lesson!) who is dead set against the progressive theories of new doctor Robert Stack. After a few minutes' exposure to the inmates, half the audience has sided with Crawford. The most disturbed individual in the place is Polly Bergen, who never speaks when screaming will do. But thanks to the compassionate treatment of Dr. Stack, it is Bergen who saves the day by preventing fellow inmate Barbara Barrie from burning the institution to the ground. Virtually every scene in The Caretakers is a gem of glorious excess, including the obligatory shock-treatment vignette. The film strives to avoid subtlety, but its fans wouldn't have it any other way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast of The Caretakers
- Robert Stack - Dr. Donovan MacLeod
- Joan Crawford - Lucretia Terry
- Diane McBain - Alison Horne
- Constance Ford - Nurse Bracken
- Herbert Marshall - Dr. Jubal Harrington
- Robert Vaughn - Jim Melford
- Ellen Corby - Irene
- Polly Bergen - Lorna Melford
- Janis Paige - Marion
- Van Williams - Dr. Larry Denning
- Sharon Hugueny - Connie
- Barbara Barrie - Edna
- Susan Oliver - Cathy Clark
- Ana St. Clair - Anna
- Director(s):
- Hall Bartlett
- Writer(s):
- Henry Greenberg, Hall Bartlett
- Producer(s):
- Hall Bartlett
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