Lady Gangster (1942)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Anthony Coldeway (writer)
Dorothy Mackaye (play)

Release Date:

1 April 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

An actress gets mixed up with a criminal gang and winds up taking the rap for a $40,000 robbery. Before she's sent to prison...

Plot Keywords:

Criminal Gang | Car Chase | Radio Broadcast | Montage | Prison Escape

Cast

Faye Emerson	...	Dorothy Drew Burton
Julie Bishop	...	Myrtle Reed
Frank Wilcox	...	Kenneth Phillips
Roland Drew	...	Carey Wells
Jackie Gleason	...	Wilson (as Jackie C. Gleason)
Ruth Ford	...	Lucy Fenton
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Stoner
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Matron Jenkins
Dorothy Adams	...	Deaf Annie
William Hopper	...	John (as DeWolf Hopper)
Vera Lewis	...	Ma Silsby
Herbert Rawlinson	...	Lewis Sinton
Peggy Diggins	...	Mary, a trustee
Charles C. Wilson	...	Detective (as Charles Wilson)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Stew (as Bill Phillips)

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (Certificate #8267) | USA:Not Rated (DVD)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Mrs. Stoner: So the quicker you realize that this i neither a country club nor a concentration camp, the better. It's up to the women themselves how they're treated. If you behave yourself, we'll meet you more than halfway, but if you want to be tough, we can be tough with you. Now, is that clear?
Dorothy Drew Burton: Yes.
Mrs. Stoner: Yes, what?
Dorothy Drew Burton: Yes, Ma'am.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Ladies They Talk About (1933)

Soundtrack:

Blues in the Night

Overconfident

I think the difference between good and bad movies is about the characters. Do they behave properly, given the world created for them. I never bought into the motives of the young woman in this film. She is too pretty and too confident to be desperate enough to do what she does. Nevertheless, she ends up in prison with a group of characters, including a classic snitch and her deaf cohort. People are looking out for her. People are after her. She has the money that was stolen. Talk about your stupid criminals. It's so full of unbelievable events, including one of the bank robbers showing up in the jail in drag. There's also an off again, on again, thing between the main character and a man who turned her in. It just never gels. Not to mention the goofy prison setting and lack of security. Not much to bother with.