The title is based on the 19th-century song "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage".
Pvt. Dobbs' mother, who is visiting from New Orleans, LA, reminds him of a girl back in New Orleans named Blanche DuBois, who has been waiting for him since they went to school together. "Blanche DuBois" is a character from the Tennessee Williams p;lay "A Streetcar Named Desire", which is set in New Orleans.
As she is boarding the stage preparing to leave Fort Courage, Laura Lee mentions to Capt. Parmenter that she has to make an appearance in Fort Riley to see another "fiancee" whose name is "Gerald FitzRoy, or is it Roy Fitzgerald?". Roy Fitzgerald is the real name of actor Rock Hudson.