Crazy Mama (1975)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writers:

Frances Doel (story)
Robert Thom (writer)

Release Date:

June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Crime

Tagline:

They shot her father, killed off her man, stole her land. She became the ... [video cover]

Plot:

Jonathan Demme directs this joyous unrelentlessly kitchy celebration of 50's America: opportunity, rock'n'roll...

Plot Keywords:

Arkansas | 1950s | Cross Country | Las Vegas Nevada | Bank Robbery

Cast

Cloris Leachman	...	Melba
Stuart Whitman	...	Jim Bob
Ann Sothern	...	Sheba
Jim Backus	...	Mr. Albertson
Don Most	...	Shawn (as Donny Most)
Linda Purl	...	Cheryl
Bryan Englund	...	Snake
Merie Earle	...	Bertha
Sally Kirkland	...	Ella Mae
Clint Kimbrough	...	Daniel
Dick Miller	...	Wilbur Janeway
Carmen Argenziano	...	Supermarket Manager
Harry Northup	...	FBI Agent
Ralph James	...	Sheriff - 1932
Dinah Englund	...	Melba - 1932

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1979)

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Dennis Quaid's film debut.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

"Happy Days" meets "Bonnie and Clyde"

Apparently, Roger Corman likes it when "Happy Days" cast members hot rod across the country (he was involved in "Grand Theft Auto", directed by and starring Ron Howard, and co-starring Marion Ross). In "Crazy Mama", Cloris Leachman plays Melba, a woman who runs a beauty parlor in Long Beach with her mother Sheba (Ann Sothern) and daughter Cheryl (Linda Purl) in 1958. Their Arkansas farm was repossessed by the banks in 1932. When slimy banker Mr. Albertson (Jim Backus) tries to repossess their beauty parlor, they decide to return to Arkansas with Cheryl's boyfriend Shawn (Don Most). So begins a crazy car chase across America. In Las Vegas, Melba falsely marries a man (Stuart Whitman) to make it look like she's married, and they also get greaser Snake (Bryan Englund, Leachman's real-life son) to go along. In the process of everything, a lot of cars get wrecked and some people get killed.

I will admit that this is a pretty silly movie, but it is so fun! I never would have guessed that Ralph Malph and Thurston Howell III had ever co-starred in a movie (by the way, Linda Purl also starred on "Happy Days"). And the fact that they all co-starred with Frau Blucher just adds to the wacky factor. Oh, and by the way, B-movie character actor Dick Miller plays a cop. Jonathan Demme just always seems to have something good up his sleeve.