It always amazes me how much action gets packed into some of these studio programmers. In the case of Paramount's QUEEN OF THE MOB, there isn't only nonstop action but considerable character development.
The main character is a Ma Barker type woman known as Ma Webster who is masterminding various criminal activities across the country with her bad apple sons.
Well okay, all the sons are bad apples except one. He's the one we're meant to root for, since there has to be at least one decent member of this clan.
As played by Blanche Yurka, Ma is a clever, very resourceful woman. She seems to understand law and disorder better than most cops. That's why she is able to stay one step ahead of the G-men (Ralph Bellamy and Jack Carson) for much of the movie.
Part of Ma's success is evading the police across state lines by quickly adapting new disguises. She is also quite successful at blending into different neighborhoods- like a chameleon is she.
The most clever ruse in this reviewer's opinion is the one where she passes herself off as a high society dame. She reasons that government agents wouldn't think to look for her and the boys among the upper crust. There's a marvelous scene where they are found out inside the home of a refined snob, played by Hedda Hopper.
As for the one good son, he has married a lovely gal and has had a child. Of course, Ma longs to see the grandson she's never met. In what is probably the best moment of the film, she sneaks into their home and poignantly introduces herself to the unsuspecting youngster. She is not totally heartless.
Of course all of Ma's bad deeds do catch up with her. She is finally cornered and arrested on Christmas.
Perhaps audiences watching the film in 1940 were swayed by some of the sentimental aspects of the story. The country was still in the throes of an economic depression that wouldn't end until the war was over. The real Ma Barker's actions would not be fully endorsed by any moral and law-abiding person, but her exploits made headlines. She was familiar to audiences.
Do some families resort to criminal activity because of poverty? Though the Barkers' circumstances became more desperate, they were still part of the community at large. This film depicts that, especially when Ma and her brood skillfully blend in with acquaintances. In a parallel life she is a sweet old lady who doesn't want to rob another bank, she just wants a cup of sugar.
The main character is a Ma Barker type woman known as Ma Webster who is masterminding various criminal activities across the country with her bad apple sons.
Well okay, all the sons are bad apples except one. He's the one we're meant to root for, since there has to be at least one decent member of this clan.
As played by Blanche Yurka, Ma is a clever, very resourceful woman. She seems to understand law and disorder better than most cops. That's why she is able to stay one step ahead of the G-men (Ralph Bellamy and Jack Carson) for much of the movie.
Part of Ma's success is evading the police across state lines by quickly adapting new disguises. She is also quite successful at blending into different neighborhoods- like a chameleon is she.
The most clever ruse in this reviewer's opinion is the one where she passes herself off as a high society dame. She reasons that government agents wouldn't think to look for her and the boys among the upper crust. There's a marvelous scene where they are found out inside the home of a refined snob, played by Hedda Hopper.
As for the one good son, he has married a lovely gal and has had a child. Of course, Ma longs to see the grandson she's never met. In what is probably the best moment of the film, she sneaks into their home and poignantly introduces herself to the unsuspecting youngster. She is not totally heartless.
Of course all of Ma's bad deeds do catch up with her. She is finally cornered and arrested on Christmas.
Perhaps audiences watching the film in 1940 were swayed by some of the sentimental aspects of the story. The country was still in the throes of an economic depression that wouldn't end until the war was over. The real Ma Barker's actions would not be fully endorsed by any moral and law-abiding person, but her exploits made headlines. She was familiar to audiences.
Do some families resort to criminal activity because of poverty? Though the Barkers' circumstances became more desperate, they were still part of the community at large. This film depicts that, especially when Ma and her brood skillfully blend in with acquaintances. In a parallel life she is a sweet old lady who doesn't want to rob another bank, she just wants a cup of sugar.