The year before the equally imposing Judith Anderson took on the law as "Lady Scarface", another powerful stage actress took them on in this forgotten and obscure B picture. Blanche Yurka had made her face unforgettable as Madam De Farge in the blockbuster "A Tale of Two Cities", but unfortunately, she didn't make a return for 5 years. Here, she opens up the film like looking like Ethel Barrymore and comes out as a female Edward G. Robinson. She's a loving mother of several sons whom she leads in a life of crime. That is all but one, an honest man with a wife and child. Ignoring the wife, she makes it her determination to see her grandson, and with FBI agent Ralph Bellamy on her trail, this sentiment could be her downfall.
Tightly made B movie, this is greatly aided by Yurka's touching performance, a combination of motherly love (rather perverse in the case of her favorite son who has abandoned the family), and her scene visiting her grandson is very touching. Although I would have liked some back story in connection with her character, that's just a minor issue.
The very funny Billy Gilbert will have you in stitches as the baker interviewed by the police in connection with marked money, while Hedda Hopper has a nice scene as the desperate socialite who also passes along information. This is one of those B films that has all the right ingredients, and for that reason, I crown Yurka as Queen of the Mob Mama's, perhaps even more memorable than Ma Barker herself.
Tightly made B movie, this is greatly aided by Yurka's touching performance, a combination of motherly love (rather perverse in the case of her favorite son who has abandoned the family), and her scene visiting her grandson is very touching. Although I would have liked some back story in connection with her character, that's just a minor issue.
The very funny Billy Gilbert will have you in stitches as the baker interviewed by the police in connection with marked money, while Hedda Hopper has a nice scene as the desperate socialite who also passes along information. This is one of those B films that has all the right ingredients, and for that reason, I crown Yurka as Queen of the Mob Mama's, perhaps even more memorable than Ma Barker herself.