Angie Dickinson essays the title role in Big Bad Mama. This Depression-era crime caper casts the future star of Police Woman as sexy Ma Barker type Wilma McClatchie, who forces her nubile daughters (Susan Sennett, Robbie Lee) into participating in a robbery/kidnapping/murder spree. Wilma seems to be as motivated by the erotic thrill of lawbreaking as she is by the financial gains. She evens hops in the sack with her daughters, as does her common-law husband, played by William Shatner. A sequel
appeared in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Corman's 'lady gangster' movies exposed more than skin: They essentially pantsed Uncle Sam, organized religion, law enforcement, big business and patriarchal society in general. These were exploitation movies about exploitation...
Buena Vista Home Entertainment has released a batch of early Roger Corman films.... They're all trash, but Big Bad Mama is the chicken bone you can choke on.
There's still a rustic style, off-kilter humor, and fluid pacing to Big Bad Mama that keeps the flick entirely watchable more than 20 years after it sauntered into the drive-ins.
The film manages to explore family dynamics and emotions and still have plenty of time for gratuitous nudity and banjo-scored shootouts. What could be better?
A knock off of Bonnie and Clyde? Not exactly. This movie has the same machine gun bank robbing action, but the relationships are messier and more scandalous, and there's a good amount of nudity. This movie has something to say about femininity,family, and survival in America during the depression. I liked it.
The trick to enjoying Big Bad Mama lies in paying strict attention during the opening credits and looking for a specific name during the credits -- namely Roger Corman. Once you realize that you're in for more of an entertaining movie than a good one and absolving Big Bad Mama of any great expectations, only then are
you in for a good time. All the movie really consists of is a series of random and uncased robberies and excuses to see Angie Dickinson and her daughters naked and taking turns with Tom Skerritt against a backdrop of Depression-era backwoods silliness with a pretty abrupt ending. This isn't to say Big Bad Mama is all bad, said silliness is the movie's most endearing quality (Dickinson being a close second) and William Shatner in a hysterically horrible acting job is also worth the time. And yes, Big Bad Mama is pretty much a Bonnie and Clyde knockoff, but realizing that is the trick to enjoying it.
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