Lady Gangster

Dorothy Burton helps with a bank robbery and ends up in the slammer for it, while her radio presenter friend tries to help her get off. Faye Emerson plays Dorothy as well as more famous actresses would and is supported by a pretty good cast which includes a young Jackie Gleason and DeWolf Hopper (son of Hedda).

'Lady Gangster' is pretty formulaic, with an ending which stretches credibility, but its production values are fairly high, which always makes a film worth a look. Dorothy's conviction relies on some misunderstandings and a dog which doesn't belong - but we wouldn't want to begrudge her the scenes with the catty inmate and strong matron, or the scene where she's visited by her sister!

It's the "Women in Cages" of the 40's starring the lean, wide-eyed, prominent cheek-boned, raven-maned beauty Faye Emerson as an aspiring actress who participates in a bank robbery, is caught and then incarcerated for her role but not before hiding the stash from her associates. Whilst in gaol she befriends fellow inmate (Bishop) and is misled in her attempts to get paroled by her jealous nemesis (Ford). Eventually she hatches a plot to escape and recover her share of the booty, but her former accomplices have other ideas.

Emerson is a magnetic personality, arguably better than the B-standard plot, though it's her genuine charm and timing that make her the perfect fit as the slightly naive southern girl, able to improvise in order to make all ends meet. Frank Wilcox co-stars as her would-be suitor whose attempts to keep her out of gaol always seem to fail. Good to see William Hopper (the future "Perry Mason" detective) in a minor role as a radio announcer, and Jackie Gleason as a sympathetic crook.

The momentum is ideal with no time wasted on long, pensive reaction shots or banal and obsolete melodrama - it's light, focused and frenetic and as a consequence, oddly compelling. Emerson, Bishop and Ford all play their roles with aplomb, turning an otherwise mediocre women's prison movie into an entertaining hour.

I had a lot of fun watching this crime quickie from Warner Brothers studios. Lasting a rapidly paced 62 minutes, the film definitely entertains if your into the genre. Faye Emerson plays a would be actress who gets caught up with a gang of bank robbers and takes the rap for a $40,000 heist the gang pulled off. She ends up in jail and what follows is as many double crosses, prison spats, car chases and shootouts as you can possibly cram into 62 minutes. The film is directed with a nice flair for action by Robert Florey under the pseudonym of Florian Roberts. Good support for Emerson from a cast that includes Julie Bishop, Frank Wilcox, Ruth Ford(cute as a damn button) and a young Jackie Gleason. I must have really enjoyed this one as I couldn't believe how fast it flew by.

For a B-Movie lasting only 62 minutes this picture was surprisingly entertaining. Faye Emerson stars as a failed actress named "Dorothy Burton" who is almost broke and needs money. So she agrees to help 3 criminals rob a bank. The problem is that she gets caught. Even so, she remains loyal to her companions and refuses to tell the district attorney "Lewis Sinton" (Herbert Rawlinson) anything. Now, rather than reveal what happens next and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that Faye Emerson's performance was simply superb. Not only was she beautiful but she also had an intangible and unique quality about her that was absolutely delightful. Be that as it may, in my opinion this film didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked and because of these time constraints there were some scenes that could have been played out a bit more for a better effect. In any case, if a person enjoys movies of this type from this particular era I think they may be pleasantly surprised by this movie. Slightly above average.

"Lady Gangster" is a fun and fast B movie from Warner Brothers in 1942, and stars Faye Emerson, Julie Bishop, Frank Wilcox, Jackie Gleason, and Ruth Ford (Mrs. Zachary Scott). Emerson plays Dot Burton, who was a decoy in a bank robbery. She winds up getting arrested, and an old friend from childhood (Wilcox) believes she's innocent. She isn't. Before she goes to jail, she steals the $40,000 from her cohorts and leaves it with her landlady.

This prison is like something out of Stage Door, with a common area and people knitting, dancing, and listening to the radio. Two women out to get Dot, Deaf Annie (Dorothy Adams) and her pal Lucy (Ruth Ford) have the lowdown on Dot thanks to Annie's lip-reading (total 2001: A Space Odyssey) and get her into lots of trouble.

Very entertaining.