So's Your Aunt Emma! (1942)

A dizzy old spinster gets involved in the boxing racket and gangland murders as is falsely accused of being notorious murderer "Ma {arker."

Director:

Jean Yarbrough

Writers:

George Bricker (screenplay), Edmond Kelso (screenplay),

Stars:

Zasu Pitts, Roger Pryor, Warren Hymer

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Zasu Pitts	...	Aunt Emma Bates
Roger Pryor	...	Terry
Warren Hymer	...	Joe
Douglas Fowley	...	Gus Hammond
Gwen Kenyon	...	Maris
Elizabeth Russell	...	Zelda
Tristram Coffin	...	Flower Henderson
Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart	...	Mickey O'Banion (as Bud McTaggart)
Stanley Blystone	...	Detective Miller (as Stan Blystone)
Dick Elliott	...	Evans
Eleanor Counts	...	Gracie
Jack Mulhall	...	Burns

Storyline

Aunt Emma Bates (Zasu Pitts), a spinster, visits the "Big Town" to see a boxing match participated in by Mickey O'Banion ('Malcolm 'Bud' McTaggart' ), son of Emma's old fiancé who was himself a boxing champion. At the arena Emma sits next to Terry (Roger Pryor), a reporter who is trying to track down Rex Crenshaw (Irving Mitchell), lawyer for gangster "Flower" Henderson (Tristram Coffin), who has been kidnapped by rival gang-leader Gus Hammond (Douglas Fowley), and manager of Mickey. After the fight Emma is mistaken for a notorious gun-woman named Ma Parker, and suspected by Hammond's henchmen of working in the interests of Henderson. Mickey is shot during an altercation at Henderson's nightclub and is later kidnapped from the hospital by his manager's men and taken to an East Side outlaw. Emma, in an effort to free Mickey, and with the aid of Maris (Gwen Kenyon), Terry's fiancée, decides to pose as Ma Parker.

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Plot Keywords:

spinster | reporter | gangster | fiance | sister | 

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Taglines:

ZaSu Steps Out And The Underworld Steps In! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aunt Emma Paints the Town

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is in the Public Domain.

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Quotes

Aunt Emma Bates: [to Maris] Young lady, when you and I get to the hospital, we;re gonna have a talk - man-to-man!

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Soundtracks

"I Can't Get You Out of My Mind"
by Harry Tobias and Edward J. Kay (as Edward Kay)
Performed by Gwen Kenyon

User Reviews

"Dummy up or I'll flatten ya!"

Zasu Pitts is wonderful as Emma Bates, an unassuming small town lady who makes a trip to the big city to see a boxing match and ends up holding her own in the middle of a mob battle.

Zasu is sweet and odd as Aunt Emma, staid in appearance, a respectable woman; however, Zasu is a riot when she takes on the role of "Ma Parker," that much-feared lady gangster who carries a gun in her umbrella and can "shoot silver dollars out of the air."

The plot, for what it's worth, involves Emma's visit to see the boxer son of an old flame, some gangsters running the boxing game, some shooting and kidnapping, and a newspaperman who can't catch a scoop if it lands in his lap but is nevertheless a good hearted guy with whom Zasu strikes up a friendship. It all wouldn't make much sense, I'm sure, if you were to study it too closely…but why would you?

Lots of fun, especially for anyone who's a fan of Zasu's peculiar charm.