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Big Bad Mama (1974)

Dir: Steve Carver

1932, depression era Texas.
Wilma McClatchy (Angie Dickinson) is less than happy about her dolly hugging Daughter Polly (Robbie Lee) marrying a poor good for nothing.
In fact she’s so unhappy about it she stops the wedding half way through, shouts abuse at everyone including the Preacher who is less than amused at her outburst, “Don’t Goddamn blaspheme…this is not a pig pen, It’s the house of The Lord”, and promptly drags Polly out of the church and, along with her other Daughter Billy Jean (Susan Sennett) and small time crook ‘Uncle’ Barney (Noble Willingham, “The Howling”), drives off in a cloud of dust.

But Barney is wanted by The Feds for bootlegging and as Wilma speeds away he is shot during the subsequent chase with FBI men Bonney (Roger Corman regular Dick Miller) and Dobbs (Tom Signorelli). Although Wilma and her Daughters escape, Bonney and Dobbs vow to track them down.

Wilma and the girls take over Barney’s bootleg whiskey racket to get enough money to hightail it to California. But when Polly has a passionate run-in with the Sheriff’s Son (“Miami Vice‘s“ Michael Talbott), they lose all their money.
Robbery now seems the quickest route to the riches they need and sure enough Mama and the girls take to it likes ducks to water, and even when with the FBI on their trail, they embrace their life of crime with increasing gusto.

An ironic meeting up with a bank robber named Fred Diller (Tom Skerrit) sees him join the threesome and become Wilma’s lover.
But Mama’s two horny Lolita’s need not go without as they also meet up with slimy gambler William Baxter (William Shatner), whom Mama promptly beds, thus making Fred move his attentions to the girls..
In-between these bed hopping antics the ragtag bunch plan their next crime as tensions within the group mount….

 

After the huge success of 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde” it was set in stone that band wagon jumping, craze-milking, master of low budget cinematic craziness Roger Corman would make a movie to cash in on it.
In 1970 he Directed the Drive-In favourite “Bloody Mama”, with faded Hollywood star Shelly Winters, that brought his own style to the sub-genre of ‘the rural gangster’.
An even closer rendition of Arthur Penn’s (overrated) movie would come 4 years later (with Corman now on Producing duties) with “Big Bad Mama”, and once again the fraying, fading Drive-In’s had another hit on their screens.

The main difference between “Big Bad Mama” and “Bloody Mama” is the massive increase in nudity. By ‘74 the audience demanded more bang for their dollar and Corman, with Director Steve Carver (“Lone Wolf McQuade”), certainly gave them that.
Wilma and her flighty Daughters are never shy to strip and jump into bed with whomever takes their fancy and much welcome bared flesh is the result, in Angie Dickinson’s case a striking (and highly erotic) full frontal shot would show just how far she had come from the more coy days of “Rio Bravo”.
Dickinson looks great for her 43 years and not even sexy ‘Candy’ herself Susan Sennett (“The Candy Snatchers”) can outshine her sex appeal, though her own (and Robbie Lee’s) nude scenes are most pleasing to the eye.
And the fact that Polly and Billy Jean are only meant to be barely out of their teens (though the actresses are much older, though don’t look it) means that their sexual antics take on a genuinely risqué edge.
One bit of bared flesh that is less appealing though is that of Captain Kirk himself William Shatner, and there is something faintly weird about seeing ‘T J Hooker’s’ barely concealed hairy arse and groin as he rubs himself up against the rear of a naked Angie Dickinson. Add a bit of striptease/nipple tassle twirling and you have most tastes catered for!

Way from the nudity the movie delivers the odd bit of well staged, sometimes bloody, action.
The bank robbery where the women meet Fred is exciting as well as funny and (as in almost all these ’rural gangster’ flicks) a warped light-hearted view is taken of the violence and murder as David Grisman’s enjoyable, banjo rag score accompanies the multiple homicides.
People also tend to shrug off bullet wounds, shown to a rather silly degree indeed when Fred, after being blasted in the leg, runs out of the bank and hops into the getaway car never to be bothered by his injury again!
The only other really full-on action scene is the machine gun filled finale that provides some messy bullet hits and a whole hell of a lot of raging gunfire as some of the worst shots in the Police force and FBI are roped in to try and apprehend Wilma and her gang.
We are also treated to some very well done car chases and stunts as many an old jalopy screeches along dusty highways and town streets.

As with most successful ‘cult’/Exploitation movies dialogue is a major factor and the script by William W. Norton (“I Dismember Mama”)  and Frances Doel provides some wonderful moments for Wilma.
Some highlights are when she scolds her Daughter‘s before the wedding, “I try to teach you girls manners and look at you, sitting there with your underpants showing…” , when she warns off ‘Uncle Barney, “get yer hands of me tits Barney” and during an argument with a pro-prohibition woman they try to sell whiskey to;
Woman: “The Road to damnation is paved with those whiskey bottles”!
Wilma: “It must be hell on tires”.
Shatner also has some ripe and cheesy lines and the whole film is littered with enjoyable snippets of acidic conversation.

As normal with a Corman film many famous faces new and old appear for our pleasure and all do good jobs.

William Shatner has lots of fun as Baxter the weasel, 5 year after “Star Trek” 8 years before “T.J Hooker”.

Tom Skerrit is fine in the more subdued role of the lovelorn Fred, 5 years before he found real fame in “Alien”.

The ever welcome Dick Miller (“A Bucket of Blood”, “Gremlins”) provides some scene chewing humour as the driven FBI man.
Royal Dano (“Cahill”, “Ghoulies 2“) has a wonderful cameo as the put upon Preacher.

Robbie Lee (“Switchblade Sisters”) is great as the childish sex kitten Polly.

Susan Sennett (looking far younger than her 29 years!) also does great work as the ever horny Billy Jean, just a year after he excellent (far more serious) turn in the Grindhouse classic “The Candy Snatchers” and it’s a shame she left the movies behind (to become the wife of Graham Nash, one third of the highly successful group ‘Crosby, Stills and Nash‘).

Angie Dickinson (sporting a bad hairdo, something she would strangely hold on to) gives a wonderfully frantic, funny and totally appealing turn as the ruthless but Motherly Wilma. Putting across her character’s wanton disregard for the law with great aplomb, but also slowing herself down during the more serious moments as we learn that despite Wilma’s exuberance in her illegal activities, she ultimately wants something better for her Daughters.

An abrupt ending closes this wild ride, but the journey has been, for the most part, a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining one and it’s also a rare case of a film living up to it’s famous tagline…”Hot Lead! Hot Cars! Hot Damn!" All that’s left off in fact is the ‘Hot Dames’!