The Lady and the Mob

Lady and the Mob, The (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Slight but mildly entertaining comedy about an elderly woman (Fay Bainter) who grows sick and tired of the gangsters taking over her city so she forms her own gang to run them out of town. This film runs just 65-minutes and for the most part it moves along pretty good, although the ending gets dragged out longer than it should have. Bainter is good in her role but a young Ida Lupino seems out of place and fails at all of her comedy scenes. Seeing as when this film was released, there's some big speeches about standing up for your country, taking down dictators and other things to that nature. Joe Sawyer plays one of the woman's gang members. Another interesting tidbit is that this Columbia picture also shows off another one of their films, You Can't Take It With You, during one scene.

A movie like this with its broad humor is mainly a matter of taste. A refined, uptown lady (Bainter) organizes her own mock mob in order to rid the city of a real mob of extortionists. Bainter's gang is made up of 'deeze' and 'doze' Runyonesque characters like Warren Hymer and Joe Sawyer. The laughs are supposed to come from their silly shenanigans, plus the unlikelihood of an uptown old lady leading a bunch of uncouth characters. Throw in Bowman and Lupino (before her drama queen days) as the required love interest and the format is complete. The movie does have its moments, particularly the castor oil treatment, while the aging Bainter does well in a very demanding role. The movie's pretty much a one-note comedic set-up, so you should know within the first 10-minutes whether to stay with it or not.

"There's never been a run on this bank !" -- Hattie Leonard.

That's one of the tasty little nuggets of comedy which gets tossed about, seemingly in a most haphazard manner, in this excellent and user-friendly "gangster comedy," from 1939. In a very real sense, the writers and the director of this film were seeking to do something that is always difficult and sometimes impossible ... which is ... to make a social satire that has more laughs than bites.

Consider that "The Lady and the Mob" is a window on a time before our times, before the cruelties and barbarities of World War Two, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Viet Nam War and the never-ending Gulf War, burned away all pretense of innocence from what was once called "the American Dream." Consider that Faye Bainter's character, Hattie -- and she is delightful in the goofiest possible ways -- lampoons the stuffy, hypocritical matrons so often created in the posh comedies of the 1930s.

To call this a feminist film would be entirely wrong, and yet the strength of the satire, and the plot, lies entirely in the hands of Faye Bainter and Ida Lupino. Indeed, Ms. Ida Lupino gets a plum in this second billing, a role as juicy and sweet as her character is tart with her tongue ! Wealthy Hattie Leonard owns a bank and has a conscience, something most average people who lived during the 1930s and those Depression years probably could not believe -- unless they saw it in a motion picture !

One only has to see "Stagecoach" with John Wayne, Claire Trevor and John Ford directing, to understand how deeply-felt the animosity of "regular folks" was, towards bankers. Both of these films were released in the early part of 1939 and they both tell a tale of truthfulness about how badly damaged people can become decent again, and what it means to be "a True American".

Since there is every prospect that Turner Classic Movies will run this fine, funny, film again soon, it would be spoiling things to give away much of the satirical plot of this comedy. Faye Bainter's classic looks and poise are a salute to all that's ever been the best about the actresses of the United States, and Ida Lupino plays her role cleverly. It is a definite mark of natural ability, as Ms. Lupino -- who is quite gorgeous at twenty-five -- darts in and out of the scenes with Bainter and "her Mob". The character actors selected to play Hattie's "stumble bums" are simply hilarious -- unless the viewer happens to know absolutely nothing about the 1930s and American slang.

Even then, their comedic posturing works really well and is simply visually entertaining. This is a great little gem of a movie and while it does not quite carry the social and satirical "punch" of Frank Capra's "Lady for a Day," from 1933, it is well worth viewing, and for capturing on the digital video recorder to have on a lazy, rainy afternoon. Eight stars for comedy, satire, and snappy jokes.

As a fan of comedies from Hollywood's Golden Age, I've seen such classics as "Duck Soup,", "His Girl Friday," and "Bringing Up Baby" many, many times. Though I never tire of them, I often wonder if there are many unheralded gems still deep in Hollywood's vaults awaiting the light of day. For this reason alone, the invaluable cable television station Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is always worth visiting for a little prospecting.

Today, I found a fair-sized gold nugget there: "The Lady and the Mob" (Columbia Pictures, 1939). Ever hear of it? I hadn't, and chances are, you haven't either. Ever since TCM gained access to Columbia's vaults, some interesting films started reaching the public again, like "Ladies in Retirement" (1941), a twisty suspense film with a superb performance from Ida Lupino. I mention Miss Lupino because she's second-billed in "The Lady & The Mob." Comedy was never a big part of her career, but she acquits herself quite well in the supporting role of Lila Thorne, fiancée of Fred Leonard (Lee Bowman) who sends her to meet and be approved by his mother, Hattie Leonard (Fay Bainter) who has a track record for scaring away prospective brides.

What seems to be the set-up for a '30s Hollywood comedy of manners quickly shifts gears into another comedic sub-genre, the mob comedy, best typified by such films as "Brother Orchid" (1940) and "A Slight Case of Murder" (1938), two Warner Bros. light-hearted offerings that gave Edward G. Robinson a chance to spoof his tough guy image.

After visiting her local cleaners to complain about a $2 bill, Hattie learns that the owner, Mr. Zambrogio (Henry Armetta) had to raise prices because a "protective association" is extorting $7 a week from him and others. Outraged after the mayor assures her that the matter will be remedied eventually sometime, she sends for Frankie O'Fallon (Warren Hymer), a reformed thief whom she met when he tried to steal her purse, to lend a hand. Framkie is quickly decked by Harry the Lug (Harold Huber), the racket collector prompting Hattie to order Frankie to recruit her own mob. Before long, we are introduced to Blinky Mack, Brains Logan, Bert the Beetle, Big Time Tim and The Canary (with a voice that sounds like Curly's from The Three Stooges, though it's not) and the laughs which were decent from the beginning start coming at you with the rapidity of a tommy gun.

The film abounds in bright lines sch as when Hattie, correcting Frankie after he calls her "lady", rebukes him with: "My servants call me madam." Perplexed, Frankie comments, "Gee, that don't hardly sound respectable." I love the scene where the local hoods that Hattie has recruited stroll about her mansion looking at her artwork. Seeing a Gainsborough-like painting depicting a child on its mother's lap, one of them urges the others to "get a load of the ventriloquist here!" And wait 'til you see their armor-plated getaway car replete with smokescreen generator and dropping tacks, anticipating James Bond's Aston Martin car by a quarter of a century.

In the lead role, Fay Bainter may appear an odd choice, here looking a lot like May Robson and sounding very much like Billie Burke, two actresses who may have seemed like more natural casting for such a dizzy society matron role. After all, Miss Bainter had established a reputation as a dramatic actress, having been nominated as Best Actress for "White Banners" and Best Supporting Actress for "Jezebel," (and winning for the latter role), both for Warner Bros. in 1938, the year before. To work for Columbia (then trying to fight off its "poverty row studio" image) in what was at 66 minutes, a B-movie, seemed to be a comedown. Whatever the circumstances -- I'd like to think it was simply someone recognizing a good role in a good script --she makes the film a ton of fun.

About midway in, an interesting scene occurs that warrants special mention. After a horde of owners have come to her house, insisting she call off her campaign because the ensuing brawls between the two mobs are wrecking their cleaning stores, Hattie launches into a dramatic monologue about patriotism, quoting Robert G. Harper's "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." In quick succession, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Patrick Henry's most famous lines are also heard. Declaring that a real American will never tolerate a dictator, she likens Mr. Watson, the mid-level operator of the town's protection racket, to one who "doesn't believe in your rights." Don't let him take your America from you, she urges.

Warner Bros. is often credited (and rightly so) with alerting the country to the dangers of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany with its exciting, "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" in 1939. That film was released May 6. "The Lady & The Mob", first in theaters nearly five weeks earlier on April 3, stole a bit of its thunder. Granted it was only one scene and its impact can hardly be compared to this other film. But I mention it to illustrate that Warner Bros. wasn't the only studio concerned about the Nazis that was willing to make a public statement at the risk of foreign revenues, even if Hitler was never directly named. Although you might think that Hattie's plea might stop the comedy cold, the words are so well-integrated into the plot that they don't kill the mood which is quickly flowing again.

If you're a fan of gangster comedies, this film is well-worth your time thanks to a good script, several wonderful character actors at their peak, and a high-flying lead performance that will bring a smile to your face long after the movie's over. Rated 8 of 10.

Ida Lupino is one of my favorite actresses. I'd watch her in anything. That's how I happened to watch this moronic comic gangster movie.

Ida's mother-in-law to-be is the title character. She's a wealthy woman who sets out to outfox the protection racket that's hitting on businesses she frequents.

Lupino has a reasonably good role. Of course she is wasted but she looks OK and isn't put through anything embarrassing.

Fay Bainter, on the other hand -- what a crime! This lovely looking, gentle woman is trashed in the title role. I will grant that she appears to be having fun with it.

But Bainter had the warmest eyes of any actress in movies I can think of. She gave many superb character performances and is marvelous as the title character in the unduly maligned "Mother Carey's Chickens." (She is Mother Carey, not a chicken.) Here she is done up to look like May Robson. Robson was also a delightful actress but a very different type.

The whole thing is truly painful. If you're a die-hard Lupino fan and you want to see her entire oeuvre, watch it. If not, do yourself a favor and don't.