Queen of the Mob

A taut, tense crime melodrama from Paramount - which is probably why no one has heard of it. As the website tells us, Universal owns all Paramount films made between 1929 and 1949, and apparently holds them all hostage in a vault somewhere. But here is one they should release, as it is better than your average gangster picture. Much better.

Ma Webster (Blanche Yurka) is the head of a family of 30's bank robbers, and she is riveting in the role. Tough and gutsy, she leads authorities on a chase through several states. She is a martinet and rules her five sons with an iron hand. Also in the gang is J. Carroll Naish. He is insubordinate and a malcontent, but she puts up with him because he is a cold-blooded killer who will cover for her boys during bank robberies.

"Queen Of The Mob" is Blanche Yurka's picture and could be the meatiest role she ever had - even more so than Mme. DeFarge in "A Tale Of Two Cities". The FBI agents tracking her gang are Ralph Bellamy and assisted by Jack Carson. It is an intense, violent study of 30's crime and criminals and the men sworn to bring them to justice.

This is a fast paced film with Blanche Yurka (Ma Webster) as the head of a family of gangsters that involve themselves in robbery and kidnapping. Hardman J Carrol Naish (George Frost) is also part of the gang. FBI agents Ralph Bellamy (Scott) and Jack Carson (Ross) are on her tail, but Yurka is a formidable opponent. I think Carrol Naish will agree with that.

The film moves briskly between episodes only lulling for a 5 minute segment with the awful Billy Gilbert (Mr Reier) and his blasted cake. He gets a sequence which is probably only 5 minutes long but seems a lot longer as he shouts his way through his unfunny dialogue and unfunny over-the-top histrionics. And you shout back at him "Get off my television screen!" He almost single-handedly ruins the film. But, get past him and the film is good entertainment, with a cast of surprising pedigree.

That's Blanche Yurka in the title role, playing a thinly disguised Ma Barker. Robbing banks, kidnapping, it was all one to her and her boys -- except for the one who became a lawyer. But the long arm and patience of the FBI spelled her eventual doom

It's a facile entry in the genre of rime Does Not Pay, but it's a long, slow slog for the sixty-one minutes it takes. J. Carrol Naish is good as the jittery member of the mob, and there are nice roles for Jack Carson and Billy Gilbert, but the inevitability of the outcome under the code casts a pall over the proceedings/ No one even has a good time being wicked, as they did at Warners.

Due to the film's running time of only 61 minutes, "Queen of the Mob" is a B-movie...the second film shown during a double-feature. But, despite the small budget and short duration, it's a heck of an enjoyable little crime film....which in some ways is reminiscent of Jimmy Cagney's "White Heat".

The story is about the Webster family, a most unusual gang of criminals who engage in murders, armed robberies as well as kidnapping! In an unusual twist, the gang is led by Mrs. Webster...the other criminals' mother! One of her kids is not a member of the gang...and he's, believe it or not, an honest lawyer! While Ma is in some ways a very capable leader, she also has some defects...such as her sentimentality when it comes to her boys. Can the FBI agent (Ralph Bellamy) manage to stop their reign of terror?

While not nearly as lurid and fun to watch as "White Heat", "Queen of the Mob" is a very satisfying film because it is different...more subdued, more realistic and not as over-the-top as you might expect in such a story. Very good acting, writing and direction make this a fine example to prove that B-movies did not stand for 'bad' movies.

And, yes, there really IS a shootout with Santa in the film...something I can't recall seeing in any other movie!

What a very exciting little crime programmer written by the great Horace Mac Coy and directed by the man who made Ellery Queen series for the big screen. This story is the first, as far as I know, that talks about the famous Ma Barker, the senior gang leader with her three sons. Roger Corman and his crew directors - including Steve Carver, Martin Scorcese, Lewis Teague, and I probably forget some of them, made many of those topics in the 70's, thirty years later. This Paramount productions film is very exciting, as were the other ones, directed by the likes of Louis King and Robert Florey, and starring Lloyd Nolan, J Caroll Naish or Anthony Quinn at his start.

The Grandma character is vivid, so well described.

Don't miss it.