Big Bad Mama (1974)

Angie Dickinson stars as a bank-robbing matriarch in this 1974 Roger Corman production, often described as a knock-off of Bonnie and Clyde. (As if that makes any difference regarding the worth of the film--which is pretty good.) Set in Great Depression-era Texas, the story finds Dickinson's desirable and poor character driven to crime, along with her two daughters (Susan Sennett, Robbie Lee), all of whom use sex to distract or drive men into culpability. The film, directed by Steve Carver, is pure Corman formula: fast-moving, violent, gritty, adorned with nudity, and yet solidly true to its own sense of high drama and texture. Veteran Angie Dickinson brings solid acting chops (and a great bod on display) to the enterprise--and speaking of Enterprise, William Shatner is quite memorable (as is Tom Skerritt) as one of the gentlemen who fall under the antiheroine's sway. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Grindhouse gangstress

Big Bad Mama is the archetypal Roger Corman 70s b-movie, with the monsters and sci-fi of the 50s and 60s replaced by plentiful low-budget action, tongue-in-cheek humor and mandatory nudity from almost every actress in the cast in a fast-moving Depression-era backroads gangster flick. Angie Dickinson is the Ma Barker figure tryin' to do right by her two gals, stumbling her way from bootlegging to armed robbery to kidnapping with the aid of Tom Skerritt's bank robber and William Shatner's Southern conman (unfortunately the mandatory nudity rule also applies to him, though we are spared the sight of the captain's log). While not as smart as John Sayles' and Jonathan Demme's Corman flicks there are occasional nods to history - not least the resistance of hypocritical establishment figures and the Big Rich to the New Deal, leaving the poor to fend for themselves as best they can - and some mildly anarchic sight gags (watch out for the cripple `healed' by William O'Connell's phoney preacher) but mostly this has few aspirations beyond throwing in as many shootouts, car chases and nude scenes from Ms Dickinson as it can in its 83 running time. January 18, 2008

ANGIE NUDE!!!

What else is there to say about this movie?!!! This should be re-named "Proud Mama" cause Angie struts her great bod and is proud of it!!! December 26, 2007

As good as I remember

Not sure why Angie did this one, but it is good, fun and she is absolutely beautiful when she is in bed with William Shatner and the guy from Top Gun (Not Tom Cruise.. his boss at Top Gun) December 1, 2007

Pretty good vintage Dickinson, Shatner

Saw the movie years ago. You know how time does. Didn't think it was as great as I remembered. Still an action movie. Not altogether bad, just not as good as I thought I remembered. August 9, 2007

Action, Sex and Comedy, Who Could Want More?

This movie is the perfect example of why Roger Corman's movies always made money: good stories, beautiful women and action sequences that combined tension, speed and comedy. Big Bad Mama is the story of one woman who wanted something better for her kids than what she had, and the lengths she would go to in order to achieve that. Her resolution of the problem may not fit in with the better element's view of right and wrong, or propriety and morality, but then again, it was the society the better element carved out that had so imprisoned her and her family. What other choice did she really have? Angie Dickinson is fabulous as a woman who has seen clearly that the life she is leading is a dead end, and that the only recourse is to bust free. Her daughters, taking their cue from mom, embrace the life of taking what you want, whether it is money, men or fast cars. And, all three get plenty of all three. What sets this movie apart from others of the same genre is that the sex, guns and fun are a realistic (an exaggerated reality yes, but then what is Angie Dickinson if not an exaggerated reality?) extrapolation of the story and not just a series of disjointed and pointless adventures. It is a great ride with a great lady. May 7, 2007

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