[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

The Lady and the Mob

  • 1939
  • Approved
  • 1h 6m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
304
YOUR RATING
Henry Armetta and Fay Bainter in The Lady and the Mob (1939)
ActionAdventureComedyCrimeRomance

Society-lady Hattie Leonard organizes her own band of 'gang-busters' when she discovers a garment she sent to the dry-cleaners had been taxed 25 cents to pay for gang 'protection.' She sends... Read allSociety-lady Hattie Leonard organizes her own band of 'gang-busters' when she discovers a garment she sent to the dry-cleaners had been taxed 25 cents to pay for gang 'protection.' She sends to New York City for a reformed gangster she had befriended, Frankie O'Fallon, and he hir... Read allSociety-lady Hattie Leonard organizes her own band of 'gang-busters' when she discovers a garment she sent to the dry-cleaners had been taxed 25 cents to pay for gang 'protection.' She sends to New York City for a reformed gangster she had befriended, Frankie O'Fallon, and he hires the manpower needed from the usual Columbia hoods. Her gang hijacks the racketeers, rec... Read all

  • Director
    • Benjamin Stoloff
  • Writers
    • Richard Maibaum
    • Gertrude Purcell
    • George Bradshaw
  • Stars
    • Fay Bainter
    • Ida Lupino
    • Lee Bowman
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    304
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Benjamin Stoloff
    • Writers
      • Richard Maibaum
      • Gertrude Purcell
      • George Bradshaw
    • Stars
      • Fay Bainter
      • Ida Lupino
      • Lee Bowman
    • 15User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos5

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast29

    Edit
    Fay Bainter
    Fay Bainter
    • Hattie Leonard
    Ida Lupino
    Ida Lupino
    • Lila Thorne
    Lee Bowman
    Lee Bowman
    • Fred Leonard
    Henry Armetta
    Henry Armetta
    • Zambrogio
    Warren Hymer
    Warren Hymer
    • Frankie O'Fallon
    Harold Huber
    Harold Huber
    • Harry the Lug
    Forbes Murray
    Forbes Murray
    • District Attorney
    Joe Sawyer
    Joe Sawyer
    • Blinky Mack
    • (as Joseph Sawyer)
    Tom Dugan
    Tom Dugan
    • Brains Logan
    Joe Caits
    Joe Caits
    • Bert the Beetle
    • (as Joseph Caits)
    Jim Toney
    • Big Time Tim
    Tommy Mack
    Tommy Mack
    • The Canary
    Brandon Tynan
    Brandon Tynan
    • Mayor Jones
    George Meeker
    George Meeker
    • George Watson
    Spencer Charters
    Spencer Charters
    • Flanagan - Bank Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Olaf Hytten
    Olaf Hytten
    • Brewster - Hattie's Butler
    • (uncredited)
    Sheldon Jett
    • Dry Cleaner
    • (uncredited)
    Pat McKee
    • Bouncer at Black Kitten Cafe
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Benjamin Stoloff
    • Writers
      • Richard Maibaum
      • Gertrude Purcell
      • George Bradshaw
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews15

    6.3304
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    The-Lonely-Londoner

    The 25 Year Old Ida Lupino

    There's only so much a person can take of watching Ida Lupino. She escaped me as an actress in the 30's and 40's only to reinvent herself as a director in the 50's and 60's. I think that's where she belongs: behind the camera.
    1Handlinghandel

    Criminal

    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.
    Michael_Elliott

    Enjoyable

    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.
    6Yahdancy

    The Lady And The Mob not so bad

    I watched this film on TCM and mostly wanted to view it because it featured a 21 year-old Ida Lupino, an actress who I adore. The movie tries to be funny, and the old lady who this film is mostly about is as cute as a button, but I think that the film tries too hard to be funny instead of simply being naturally funny. But Ida Lupino is not to blame for any problems with the film -- the writers are! She has always been a powerhouse actress and once she took on being a director, as always, she gave it her all! So watch this film if you are looking for something light-hearted and harmless fun. It's nice watching this elderly woman take on the mob in her own way and bringing them to their knees!
    8richard1977

    Mob Comedy Is An Offer You Shouldn't Refuse

    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.

    More like this

    C'est arrivé dans la 5e avenue
    7.6
    C'est arrivé dans la 5e avenue
    Rendez-moi ma femme
    6.5
    Rendez-moi ma femme
    La Manière forte
    7.1
    La Manière forte
    La péniche de l'amour
    6.8
    La péniche de l'amour
    A Stranger in Town
    7.1
    A Stranger in Town
    Une femme dangereuse
    7.2
    Une femme dangereuse
    Fille de feu
    7.0
    Fille de feu
    Madame poursuit Monsieur
    6.5
    Madame poursuit Monsieur
    What Price Hollywood?
    7.0
    What Price Hollywood?
    Smart Girl
    5.4
    Smart Girl
    Dangerous Blondes
    6.6
    Dangerous Blondes
    Virtue
    6.9
    Virtue

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Otto Hoffman as "Higgins" is in studio records/casting call lists, but he did not appear or was not identifiable in the movie.
    • Quotes

      Lila Thorne: I may have come from gorillas, but that doesn't mean I have to mix with them socially!

    • Connections
      References Vous ne l'emporterez pas avec vous (1938)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ1

    • What kind of car is the one Hattie and Lila are driving where they drive from the back?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 3, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Gangsterler ve Şürekâsı
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 6m(66 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.