Here's the premise: A sweet old lady, indignant that local merchants are victims of an extortion ring, gets together her own mob to fight fire with fire. And how does she get them? Well, the district attorney, who knows and respects her, orders several criminals to be good boys and do what she says. And how does she deploy them? Well, she orders one to go into a shop and beat up the extortionist. And what happens? It's HER thug who gets carried out on a stretcher (he's ok almost at once)! Hilarious!
Fantasies and fairy tales may have magic elements, but they have to be grounded in reality. How likely is it that the DA would do this? Or that the extortionist would not do the thug permanent damage? Or use a knife or gun? Damon Runyon's stories were called fairy tales of Broadway, but in them gangsters do use guns, and their victims don't get up once they're down. This movie is offensively patronising in its assumption that its viewers will laugh at anything and never think about what they're watching.
Lee Bowman is, as usual, charming, and the young Ida Lupino is beautiful, though she looks even sulkier than in her later, tough-girl roles. It's easy to see why and to sympathise, but that lovely, sensitive actress Fay Bainter fares worse, buried under a ton of rubber and makeup and stuck in this insulting sharp-tongued but sweet, doddery but clever little old lady role.
Review of The Lady and the Mob
