Cage Without a Key is a 1975 made-for-TV movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 starring Susan Dey

Susan Dey

Susan Dey is an American actress, known primarily for her roles in film and television. Her more prominent parts came as elder daughter, Laurie Partridge, on the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family, and as Grace Van Owen, a California assistant district attorney and judge on the dramatic series, L.A...

 and Sam Bottoms

Sam Bottoms

Samuel John "Sam" Bottoms was an American actor and producer.-Personal life:Bottoms was born in Santa Barbara, California, the third son of James "Bud" Bottoms and Betty , both of whom survive him...

, with Jonelle Allen

Jonelle Allen

Jonelle Allen is an American actress, singer, and dancer.Born in New York City, Allen grew up in Harlem's Sugar Hill among neighbors that included Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, and Johnny Hodges, all of whom had an influence on her career choice...

 and Lani O'Grady

Lani O'Grady

Lani O'Grady was an American actress and the sister of actor/musician Don Grady. O'Grady is best-remembered for her role as Mary Bradford, the eldest sister from Eight Is Enough.-Career:...

 in supporting roles. The movie appeared on the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 television network

Television network

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

, later repeating on The CBS Late Movie

The CBS Late Movie

The CBS Late Movie was a CBS television series from the 1970s and 1980s, that ran in most American television markets from 11:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. or later, on weeknights...

. The film was released on VHS under the title Imprisioned Women.

The movie was filmed at Las Palmas School for Girls in Commerce, California

Commerce, California

Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is bordered by Vernon on the west, Los Angeles on the northwest, East Los Angeles on the north, Montebello on the east, Downey...

, now known as the Dorothy Kirby Center. This was a juvenile detention center, not an actual women's prison. Many of the extras were actual inmates.

Plot

Dey plays Valerie Smith, a 17-year-old who is lured into participating in a robbery

Robbery

Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....

. Captured by the authorities, she is sent to a reformatory

Reformatory

Reformatory is a term that has had varied meanings within the penal system, depending on the jurisdiction and the era. It may refer to a youth detention center, or an adult correctional facility. The term is still in popular use for adult facilities throughout the United States, although most...

, where she finds herself in more and more trouble while trying to adjust. Her sentence multiplied, it appears Valerie may never leave state custody.

Valerie becomes the target of unwanted sexual advances from some of the other inmates, until a young African-American lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

named Tommy (played by Jonelle Allen) takes her under her protection. Tommy ultimately sacrifices her life to save Valerie's.

LGBT in media

Media researcher Steven Capsuto cites the character of Tommy as probably the earliest well-developed gay teen character on television, as well as the first well-developed non-white gay character.