Big Bad Mama (1974) New World/Action-Comedy RT: 84 minutes Rated R (violence, full frontal nudity, sexual content, language) Director: Steve Carver Screenplay: William Norton and Frances Doel Music: David Grisman Cinematography: Bruce Logan Release date: September 19, 1974 (US) Cast: Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, Tom Skerritt, Susan Sennett, Robbie Lee, Noble Willingham, Dick Miller, Tom Signorelli, Joan Prather, Royal Dano, William O’Connell, John Wheeler, Ralph James, Sally Kirkland. Box Office: $4 million (US)
Rating: *** (three stars)
It’s been rumored that drive-in theaters might make a comeback in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. It makes sense, it allows people to go to the movies while still promoting social distancing. Of course, it wouldn’t be the same experience as it was in its heyday. They’d likely show current mainstream movies as opposed to the B-movies shown in the 60s and 70s, the ones with titles like I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Beach Blanket Bingo, Bonnie’s Kids, The Van, 2069: A Sex Odyssey, Satan’s Cheerleaders and Unholy Rollers. When I think of drive-in movies, I think of exploitation in its various forms. I expect I’m not alone in this.
Another title that brings drive-in movies to mind is Big Bad Mama, a Depression-era crime drama about a pistol-packing mama, Wilma McClatchie (Dickinson, Police Woman), on a crime spree with her two teen daughters, Billie Jean (Sennett, The Candy Snatchers) and Polly (Lee, Switchblade Sisters). Their story begins in Texas circa 1932 when Wilma leaves her husband and stops Polly from getting married too young. To make money, she unsuccessfully tries bootlegging before moving onto bigger ventures like robbery and kidnapping.
Wilma happens to be in the bank trying to cash a phony check when bank robber Fred Diller (Skerritt, Alien) bursts in with his gang. It doesn’t go well for them. In the melee, Wilma and her girls take the money and run with Diller close behind. They decide to pair up, first as partners-in-crime then as partners-in-bed. A little later, they’re joined by con man William Baxter (Shatner, Star Trek) who replaces Fred as Wilma’s lover. He’s not too broken up since he’s sleeping with both daughters. After a few more profitable robberies, they kidnap a millionaire’s daughter (Prather, The Devil’s Rain) and hold her for a $1 million ransom. All the while, they’re being pursued by a pair of comically inept feds played by Dick Miller (Truck Turner) and Tom Signorelli (Thief).
Obviously, Big Bad Mama is a Bonnie and Clyde knock-off; it’s one of several period gangster flicks that followed in the wake of the success of Arthur Penn’s 1967 film. It’s a low-budget job, directed by Steve Carver (Capone), produced by schlockmeister Roger Corman and released by his studio New World Pictures. It was shot in less than three weeks. It has plenty of B3E (Big Three of Exploitation) – violence, nudity and sex. It’s often identified as a sexploitation movie because of all the sex scenes including one where Dickinson appears fully nude. She was 43 at the time and looking good! The scene that most will remember is the three-way with Billie Jean, Polly and Diller. It’s the scene most likely to stop all make out sessions.
Action is NOT in short supply in Big Bad Mama. It’s filled with blazing tommy guns and fast vintage cars. It has chases that usually end with the feds figuratively shaking their fists in the air and a blood-soaked finale right out of Bonnie and Clyde with all the blood, bang and rat-a-tat. It’s a cool way to top things off. It’s great to watch action scenes NOT enhanced by CGI. Big Bad Mama is the real deal, folks. This is what action looked like in ’74. We’re talking stunt drivers, blood squibs and real prop guns. Carver also nails it in the area of period authenticity with the vintage automobiles, costumes and weaponry. It’s a surprisingly well made movie with cinematography a few notches above the typical B-movie and a perfectly matched bluegrass score by David Grisman (and an uncredited Jerry Garcia).
Dickinson is great as the strong-willed, sexually liberated Wilma determined to snatch her share of the American Dream from the hands of corrupt male authority figures and rich fat cats. Her character can be described as both feminine and feminist; she’s the perfect blend of toughness and sex appeal. She has desires like any other woman but doesn’t need a man to tell her what to do. It’s always fun to watch Shatner perform. He overacts with his usual panache as a slick con man with a Southern accent that keeps slipping and a cool confidence that gives way to cowardice as the law closes in on the gang. Skerritt is thoroughly believable as a Dillinger-esque outlaw content to let Wilma sit in the driver’s seat as leader of the gang. Sennett and Lee are very good as Wilma’s girls. They’re both HOT! Miller, a Corman regular, just adds to the fun. He’s always a welcome presence in ANY movie.
Big Bad Mama is a fun movie. It’s funny too. The scene where Wilma robs a phony evangelical preacher about to rob his followers has a satirical ring to it in how it shows the hypocrisy inherent in organized religion. There’s also a great scene where Wilma dresses down a roomful of veterans for ogling her girls while they do a striptease for money. One of the best things about Big Bad Mama is that it never takes itself too seriously. It’s junk (the good kind) and knows it. It’s tailor-made for drive-ins, grindhouses and late night cable showings. This is the kind of movie I want to see at a drive-in theater if they indeed make a comeback. I know, the chances of that happening are just about nil but Movie Guy can dream, can’t he?
