Lady Gangster (1942)

For a B-Movie lasting only 62 minutes this picture was surprisingly entertaining. Faye Emerson stars as a failed actress named "Dorothy Burton" who is almost broke and needs money. So she agrees to help 3 criminals rob a bank. The problem is that she gets caught. Even so, she remains loyal to her companions and refuses to tell the district attorney "Lewis Sinton" (Herbert Rawlinson) anything. Now, rather than reveal what happens next and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that Faye Emerson's performance was simply superb. Not only was she beautiful but she also had an intangible and unique quality about her that was absolutely delightful. Be that as it may, in my opinion this film didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked and because of these time constraints there were some scenes that could have been played out a bit more for a better effect. In any case, if a person enjoys movies of this type from this particular era I think they may be pleasantly surprised by this movie. Slightly above average.

Lady Gangster was based on a play written by Dorothy Mackaye who did some time in prison for covering up a homicide of her husband Ray Raymond by actor Paul Kelly who also served in prison before resuming his career. All the principals in that affair are gone now and their lives and story would certainly be far more interesting than this film which had a previous incarnation by Warner Brothers in 1933. That film was Ladies They Talk About and starred Barbara Stanwyck. As it was before the Code, I'm betting that was a better version. It certainly sounded more interesting in the Stanwyck biography I read.Faye Emerson is no Stanwyck, but she's all right in the role of an actress fallen on bad times and now hooking up with bank robbers Roland Drew, Bill Phillips and Jackie Gleason. Yes the great one is in the cast as wheel man of the bank robbery that Emerson acts as a shill/decoy for and gets caught.In prison for her crime Faye makes friends with Julie Bishop and as she knows where the money is hid, she has that as a bargaining chip for her release. But the plot takes some strange turns and she's forced to escape.The male roles in this film are weak, Frank Wilcox is a bit of a doofus as your crusading crime busting radio commentator. Why Emerson falls for him is beyond me. The script is weak and meandering for Lady Gangster as well. For instance an element is introduced of a rivalry between District Attorney Herbert Rawlinson and Wilcox, with Wilcox intimating the DA is corrupt. But that doesn't go anywhere. Certainly the talents of Jackie Gleason are not used at all, but Warners never realized what they had under contract.On the plus side, the best supporting performance is clearly that of prison snitch Ruth Ford who really doesn't do it for material gain, she just likes the attention. Ford did quite a lot with a small role.A product of Warner Brothers B picture unit, Lady Gangster just doesn't make it.

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.

It's a peppy flick and in some ways better than the original 1933 movie titled Ladies They Talk About that starred Barbara Stanwyck.Fortunately, the Stanwyck movie was pre-Hays code so there is some snappy dialog and not so veiled references to prostitution that couldn't be filmed in Lady Gangster. The opening scene obviously shot in a real bank gives the film a realistic gritty feel that doesn't come off when a scene like this is shot on a set. Jackie Gleason in a small supporting role as one of Emerson's fellow bank robbers, provides a few glimpses of that "Poor Soul" face that he made famous years later on his TV show. Also, catching a very young dark-haired William Hopper (later of Perry Mason fame as Paul Drake)was also a pleasant surprise.