The Caretakers (Borderlines) (1963)
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22% of users liked it
(100 ratings)
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'… More 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, Rovi
- Directed By
- Hall Bartlett
- Written By
- Henry F. Greenberg, Hall Bartlett
- Genres
- Drama, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Aug 21, 1963 Wide
- Studio
- MGM
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The only good thing in this campy Joan Crawford mental hospital flick is the Oscar-nominated cinematography by Lucien Ballard.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An unintentionally funny overwrought melodrama.
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Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Robert Stack
as Dr. Donovan MacLeod
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Polly Bergen
as Lorna Melford
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Joan Crawford
as Lucretia Terry
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Janis Paige
as Marion
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Diane McBain
as Alison Horne
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Van Williams
as Dr. Larry Denning
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Constance Ford
as Nurse Bracken
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Sharon Hugueny
as Connie
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Herbert Marshall
as Dr. Jubal Harrington
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Barbara Barrie
as Edna
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Robert Vaughn
as Jim Melford
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Susan Oliver
as Cathy Clark
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Ellen Corby
as Irene
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Ana St. Clair
as Anna
