Bloody Mama (1970)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Don Peters (story)
Robert Thom (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

24 March 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Tagline:

Say it with bullets!

Plot:

A psychological gangster film based on fact. Machine gun totin' Ma Barker lead her family gang (her sons) on a crime spree in the Depression era...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Drugs | Drug Addict | Ma Barker | Gangster

Cast

Shelley Winters	...	Kate 'Ma' Barker
Pat Hingle	...	Sam Adams Pendlebury
Don Stroud	...	Herman Barker
Diane Varsi	...	Mona Gibson
Bruce Dern	...	Kevin Dirkman
Clint Kimbrough	...	Arthur Barker
Robert De Niro	...	Lloyd Barker
Robert Walden	...	Fred Barker
Alex Nicol	...	George Barker
Pamela Dunlap	...	Rembrandt
Michael Fox	...	Dr. Roth
Scatman Crothers	...	Moses (as 'Scatman' Crothers)
Stacy Harris	...	Agent McClellan
Lisa Jill	...	Young Kate
Steve Mitchell	...	Sheriff
Roy Idom	...	Ferryboat Passenger
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Snell	...	Federal Agent (uncredited)

Directed by
Roger Corman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Don Peters		story
Robert Thom		screenplay
Robert Thom		story

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	executive producer
Roger Corman	....	producer
Norman T. Herman	....	co-producer
James H. Nicholson	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Don Randi

Cinematography by
John A. Alonzo		(director of photography) (as John Alonzo)

Film Editing by
Eve Newman

Makeup Department
Dave Grayson	....	makeup artist (as David Grayson)
Bette Iverson	....	hair stylist (as Betty Iverson)

Production Management
Elliot Schick	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Grillo	....	assistant director

Art Department
Michael Ross	....	property master

Sound Department
Charles T. Knight	....	sound mixer (as Charles Knight)

Special Effects by
A.D. Flowers	....	special effects

Stunts
Bud Walls	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
John Elsenbach	....	camera operator
Richard King Sr.	....	key grip (as Richard King)
Robert E. Thomas	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Thomas Costich	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Bigfoot	....	music performers "Bloody Mama"
Guy Hemric	....	composer: title song "Bloody Mama"
Don Randi	....	musical director
Bob Silver	....	composer: title song "Bloody Mama"
Al Simms	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Clifton Bush	....	transportation captain

Other crew
William Bond Jr.	....	our man in Arkansas
Michel Levesque	....	visual consultant (as Michael Levesque)
Tom Moore	....	script supervisor
Earl Wingard	....	unit publicist

Production Companies

• American International Pictures (AIP)

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinémas Associés (1970) (France) (theatrical)
• LIF (1970) (Italy) (theatrical)
• MGM-EMI (1971) (UK) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (Canada)
• Eurocine Films (2008) (Spain) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• RCV Orion (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Cinefx  optical effects
• Edit International  sound effects
• Pacific Title  title design by
• Ryder Sound Services  sound

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (cut) (1972) | UK:X | France:-18 | Italy:VM14 | West Germany:18 | France:-12 (re-rating) | UK:18 (uncut version, re-rating) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:18 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Shelley Winters was such an extreme method actress that she spent the entire evening before the grave scene at a funeral parlor staring at a real corpse in a coffin convincing herself she was staring at her dead son, in addition to listening to loud opera just before shooting a scene to work herself up emotionally, and throwing a very real wine bottle at Lloyd (Robert De Niro) in order to make him cry.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (#1.5)" (1999)

Trashy but hard to stop watching!

This is an incredibly tasteless tale that is reputed to be the story of the notorious Ma Barker and her demented criminal sons. Unfortunately, most of what you see in this Roger Corman production is pure hooey--with no basis in the real lives of this criminal family. The biggest problem with the story is that Ma is shown as the brains and motivating force behind the Barker gang, though most histories of the gangster era of the late 20s and early 30s completely contradict this. In addition to playing fast and loose with this, many other details of the film are pure fabrication, so if you are looking for a biography, don't bother.

However, if you are looking for a very guilty pleasure--sort of like "The Jerry Springer Show" combined with the Barker story, then this is for you! The story you'll see if almost completely depraved and rather shocking even today, as prison sodomy, senseless murders, drug abuse, rape and the most psychologically twisted semi-incestuous family on film is what you'll see. Now this might be really hard to take, but having the actors (particularly Shelly Winters) overact so severely actually made most of it seem rather funny instead of realistic. Still, given these topics, nudity and a lot of blood, it's certainly not for children or the squeamish. Entertaining but pure trash.