Queen of the Mob (1940) User Reviews

One of the queens of the stage is queen of crime.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 6 September 2016]

The year before the equally imposing Judith Anderson took on the law as "Lady Scarface", another powerful stage actress took them on in this forgotten and obscure B picture. Blanche Yurka had made her face unforgettable as Madam De Farge in the blockbuster "A Tale of Two Cities", but unfortunately, she didn't make a return for 5 years. Here, she opens up the film like looking like Ethel Barrymore and comes out as a female Edward G. Robinson. She's a loving mother of several sons whom she leads in a life of crime. That is all but one, an honest man with a wife and child. Ignoring the wife, she makes it her determination to see her grandson, and with FBI agent Ralph Bellamy on her trail, this sentiment could be her downfall.

Tightly made B movie, this is greatly aided by Yurka's touching performance, a combination of motherly love (rather perverse in the case of her favorite son who has abandoned the family), and her scene visiting her grandson is very touching. Although I would have liked some back story in connection with her character, that's just a minor issue.

The very funny Billy Gilbert will have you in stitches as the baker interviewed by the police in connection with marked money, while Hedda Hopper has a nice scene as the desperate socialite who also passes along information. This is one of those B films that has all the right ingredients, and for that reason, I crown Yurka as Queen of the Mob Mama's, perhaps even more memorable than Ma Barker herself.

Ma Baker

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 18 August 2014]

This is a fast paced film with Blanche Yurka (Ma Webster) as the head of a family of gangsters that involve themselves in robbery and kidnapping. Hardman J Carrol Naish (George Frost) is also part of the gang. FBI agents Ralph Bellamy (Scott) and Jack Carson (Ross) are on her tail, but Yurka is a formidable opponent. I think Carrol Naish will agree with that.

The film moves briskly between episodes only lulling for a 5 minute segment with the awful Billy Gilbert (Mr Reier) and his blasted cake. He gets a sequence which is probably only 5 minutes long but seems a lot longer as he shouts his way through his unfunny dialogue and unfunny over-the-top histrionics. And you shout back at him "Get off my television screen!" He almost single-handedly ruins the film. But, get past him and the film is good entertainment, with a cast of surprising pedigree.

Hoover's Men Will Get You!

[boblipton · 5/10 · 12 April 2022]

That's Blanche Yurka in the title role, playing a thinly disguised Ma Barker. Robbing banks, kidnapping, it was all one to her and her boys -- except for the one who became a lawyer. But the long arm and patience of the FBI spelled her eventual doom

It's a facile entry in the genre of rime Does Not Pay, but it's a long, slow slog for the sixty-one minutes it takes. J. Carrol Naish is good as the jittery member of the mob, and there are nice roles for Jack Carson and Billy Gilbert, but the inevitability of the outcome under the code casts a pall over the proceedings/ No one even has a good time being wicked, as they did at Warners.

Unknown Gem From Paramount

[GManfred · 30 May 2013]

A taut, tense crime melodrama from Paramount - which is probably why no one has heard of it. As the website tells us, Universal owns all Paramount films made between 1929 and 1949, and apparently holds them all hostage in a vault somewhere. But here is one they should release, as it is better than your average gangster picture. Much better.

Ma Webster (Blanche Yurka) is the head of a family of 30's bank robbers, and she is riveting in the role. Tough and gutsy, she leads authorities on a chase through several states. She is a martinet and rules her five sons with an iron hand. Also in the gang is J. Carroll Naish. He is insubordinate and a malcontent, but she puts up with him because he is a cold-blooded killer who will cover for her boys during bank robberies.

"Queen Of The Mob" is Blanche Yurka's picture and could be the meatiest role she ever had - even more so than Mme. DeFarge in "A Tale Of Two Cities". The FBI agents tracking her gang are Ralph Bellamy and assisted by Jack Carson. It is an intense, violent study of 30's crime and criminals and the men sworn to bring them to justice.

Satisfying Crime Picture

[Maliejandra · 8/10 · 30 May 2014]

Queen of the Mob is a fast-paced crime drama. It is set at Christmastime, so I suppose it could be watched at that time of year, although it would be an unusual kind of movie to screen then. Blanche Yurka is quite good as Ma Webster, a character based on real-life criminal Ma Barker. She is alternately tough and frail, depending on who she is trying to manipulate at the time. The film is action-packed and shows how the group cleverly pulled off their big heists and then laid low to avoid being caught. Of course, since this film was made after the code was reinstated which required that criminals be punished and not glorified, things don't end so neatly.

You've gotta love a crime film where G-men have a shootout with Santa!!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 20 August 2023]

Due to the film's running time of only 61 minutes, "Queen of the Mob" is a B-movie...the second film shown during a double-feature. But, despite the small budget and short duration, it's a heck of an enjoyable little crime film....which in some ways is reminiscent of Jimmy Cagney's "White Heat".

The story is about the Webster family, a most unusual gang of criminals who engage in murders, armed robberies as well as kidnapping! In an unusual twist, the gang is led by Mrs. Webster...the other criminals' mother! One of her kids is not a member of the gang...and he's, believe it or not, an honest lawyer! While Ma is in some ways a very capable leader, she also has some defects...such as her sentimentality when it comes to her boys. Can the FBI agent (Ralph Bellamy) manage to stop their reign of terror?

While not nearly as lurid and fun to watch as "White Heat", "Queen of the Mob" is a very satisfying film because it is different...more subdued, more realistic and not as over-the-top as you might expect in such a story. Very good acting, writing and direction make this a fine example to prove that B-movies did not stand for 'bad' movies.

And, yes, there really IS a shootout with Santa in the film...something I can't recall seeing in any other movie!

Aka the Iron Grandma...

[searchanddestroy-1 · 11 December 2011]

What a very exciting little crime programmer written by the great Horace Mac Coy and directed by the man who made Ellery Queen series for the big screen. This story is the first, as far as I know, that talks about the famous Ma Barker, the senior gang leader with her three sons. Roger Corman and his crew directors - including Steve Carver, Martin Scorcese, Lewis Teague, and I probably forget some of them, made many of those topics in the 70's, thirty years later. This Paramount productions film is very exciting, as were the other ones, directed by the likes of Louis King and Robert Florey, and starring Lloyd Nolan, J Caroll Naish or Anthony Quinn at his start.

The Grandma character is vivid, so well described.

Don't miss it.

Ma and her boys

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 4 May 2022]

It always amazes me how much action gets packed into some of these studio programmers. In the case of Paramount's QUEEN OF THE MOB, there isn't only nonstop action but considerable character development.

The main character is a Ma Barker type woman known as Ma Webster who is masterminding various criminal activities across the country with her bad apple sons.

Well okay, all the sons are bad apples except one. He's the one we're meant to root for, since there has to be at least one decent member of this clan.

As played by Blanche Yurka, Ma is a clever, very resourceful woman. She seems to understand law and disorder better than most cops. That's why she is able to stay one step ahead of the G-men (Ralph Bellamy and Jack Carson) for much of the movie.

Part of Ma's success is evading the police across state lines by quickly adapting new disguises. She is also quite successful at blending into different neighborhoods- like a chameleon is she.

The most clever ruse in this reviewer's opinion is the one where she passes herself off as a high society dame. She reasons that government agents wouldn't think to look for her and the boys among the upper crust. There's a marvelous scene where they are found out inside the home of a refined snob, played by Hedda Hopper.

As for the one good son, he has married a lovely gal and has had a child. Of course, Ma longs to see the grandson she's never met. In what is probably the best moment of the film, she sneaks into their home and poignantly introduces herself to the unsuspecting youngster. She is not totally heartless.

Of course all of Ma's bad deeds do catch up with her. She is finally cornered and arrested on Christmas.

Perhaps audiences watching the film in 1940 were swayed by some of the sentimental aspects of the story. The country was still in the throes of an economic depression that wouldn't end until the war was over. The real Ma Barker's actions would not be fully endorsed by any moral and law-abiding person, but her exploits made headlines. She was familiar to audiences.

Do some families resort to criminal activity because of poverty? Though the Barkers' circumstances became more desperate, they were still part of the community at large. This film depicts that, especially when Ma and her brood skillfully blend in with acquaintances. In a parallel life she is a sweet old lady who doesn't want to rob another bank, she just wants a cup of sugar.