Bonnie and Clyde was a big hit in 1967, and I don't doubt that Hollywood's great money-spinner, Roger Corman, had that on his mind when he decided to direct a film based on another of America's great crime legends. The story of "Machine Gun Totting Ma Barker" is a well known one; I won't profess to know the ins and outs of it, but the basics are common knowledge. The film would only appear to be loosely based on the classic story, however, and Corman seemed keener to put the focus on the situation within the group rather than actually telling a story. The plot focuses on Ma Barker; a strong matriarch with four sons. The story takes place within depression era USA and Ma and her sons find themselves with little to live on and so turn to crime. The troupe carries out robberies, commits murder and does other such illegal acts and it soon gets dubbed as a 'crime spree'. However, more interesting than that is how the group itself works; perversion is rife as we get to witness things such as incest and homosexuality within the group.
The film is rather entertaining throughout, but for me; something about it just doesn't work. Corman's directing style is very cold and despite excellent performances from the cast - the film fails to be involving and nobody really steps up to take the 'antihero' role effectively. It's a good job, therefore, that the film is entertaining for most of the duration as there isn't much in the way of distraction when it comes to the less entertaining parts. Corman has got himself together a good cast of actors; chief among them obviously being Shelly Winters. Winters looks decidedly less glamorous than in previous performances - but fits into her role here very well indeed and really convincing that she is the character she is portraying. The rest of the cast is fine too, featuring good performances from the likes of Don Stroud and Bruce Dern, as well an early performance from the great Robert DeNiro. There's not a great deal of highlights in the film; but Pat Hingle's role is entertaining and it all boils down to a very well working final shootout scene. Overall, this is decent enough; but I'm not surprised that it hasn't gone down as a great film and would only recommend it to those who happen across a copy.
The film is rather entertaining throughout, but for me; something about it just doesn't work. Corman's directing style is very cold and despite excellent performances from the cast - the film fails to be involving and nobody really steps up to take the 'antihero' role effectively. It's a good job, therefore, that the film is entertaining for most of the duration as there isn't much in the way of distraction when it comes to the less entertaining parts. Corman has got himself together a good cast of actors; chief among them obviously being Shelly Winters. Winters looks decidedly less glamorous than in previous performances - but fits into her role here very well indeed and really convincing that she is the character she is portraying. The rest of the cast is fine too, featuring good performances from the likes of Don Stroud and Bruce Dern, as well an early performance from the great Robert DeNiro. There's not a great deal of highlights in the film; but Pat Hingle's role is entertaining and it all boils down to a very well working final shootout scene. Overall, this is decent enough; but I'm not surprised that it hasn't gone down as a great film and would only recommend it to those who happen across a copy.