The Lady and the Mob (1939)

Society-woman Hattie Leonard organizes her own band of 'gang-busters' when she discovers a garment she sent to the dry-cleaners had been taxed twenty-five-cents to pay for gang 'protection.... See full summary »

Director:

Benjamin Stoloff

Writers:

George Bradshaw (story), Price Day (story),

Stars:

Fay Bainter, Ida Lupino, Lee Bowman

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fay Bainter	...	Hattie Leonard
Ida Lupino	...	Lila Thorne
Lee Bowman	...	Fred Leonard
Henry Armetta	...	Vincenzo Zambrogio
Warren Hymer	...	Frankie O'Fallon
Harold Huber	...	Harry the Lug
Forbes Murray	...	District Attorney
Joe Sawyer	...	Blinky Mack (as Joseph Sawyer)
Tom Dugan	...	Brains Logan
Joe Caits	...	Bert the Beetle (as Joseph Caits)
Jim Toney	...	Big Time Tim
Tommy Mack	...	The Canary
Brandon Tynan	...	Mayor Johnny Jones
George Meeker	...	George Watson

Storyline

Society-woman Hattie Leonard organizes her own band of 'gang-busters' when she discovers a garment she sent to the dry-cleaners had been taxed twenty-five-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 hi-jacks the racketeers, recovers the merchant's money and returns it to them. Lila Thorne, engaged to Hattie' son, Fred, throws in with her future mother-in-law when she sees the old lady is fighting for the American principle of freedom of choice...and action. Lila frames the gang-leader, George Watson, and Hattie's big-city vigilantes kidnap him, and extract the information that the town-mayor, Johnny "J.J." Jones, is the brains behind the protection-gang and is getting the big cut of the money. But Hattie still has to rob a bank before she can secure the evidence needed to convict the mayor. All in a day's work for a crusading society...

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | big city | racketeer | society woman | new york city | 

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Taglines:

There's A Laugh In Every Tear-Gas Bomb This Lady Packs Under Her Sables!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Che succede a San Francisco?

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References You Can't Take It with You (1938)

User Reviews

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.