dougdoepke A budding actress helps a crew of bankrobbers, after which she's sent to prison, where she uses her wits to get a pardon.The 60-minutes comes across more like a Monogram production instead of the gangster experts at Warner Bros. The main problem lies with the flick's lack of grit. There's really no one to menace the audience as would be expected. As the lead player, Emerson lacks even a hint of fire, which leaves an affable blank where an igniting spark should be. The supporting players too-- with one notable exception-- are pretty bland, along with a sloppy script, as other reviewers point out. Then too, the hulking guy in drag is a hoot that should fool no one, especially canny prison guards. On the other hand, the prison's dayroom scenes are colorful and lively, and compensate somewhat. Director Florey also shows some flair with the staircase brawl, and especially with Dorothy Adams' lip-reading angles. However, to me, Ruth Ford (Lucy) absolutely steals the film. She injects real life and personality into her prison snitch role that provides a lift to the proceedings (and with a pony-tail, no less). I can see why she was an Orson Welles favorite. I'll look for her from now on.All in all, the movie's rather limp for Warner Bros. and its gangster theme specialty. Wisely, Emerson transitioned from movies to early TV where her low-cut gowns suddenly got men interested in panel shows. Too bad wardrobe missed the opportunity here. It would have been big compensation.

Chase_Witherspoon It's the "Women in Cages" of the 40's starring the lean, wide-eyed, prominent cheek-boned, raven-maned beauty Faye Emerson as an aspiring actress who participates in a bank robbery, is caught and then incarcerated for her role but not before hiding the stash from her associates. Whilst in gaol she befriends fellow inmate (Bishop) and is misled in her attempts to get paroled by her jealous nemesis (Ford). Eventually she hatches a plot to escape and recover her share of the booty, but her former accomplices have other ideas.Emerson is a magnetic personality, arguably better than the B-standard plot, though it's her genuine charm and timing that make her the perfect fit as the slightly naive southern girl, able to improvise in order to make all ends meet. Frank Wilcox co-stars as her would-be suitor whose attempts to keep her out of gaol always seem to fail. Good to see William Hopper (the future "Perry Mason" detective) in a minor role as a radio announcer, and Jackie Gleason as a sympathetic crook.The momentum is ideal with no time wasted on long, pensive reaction shots or banal and obsolete melodrama - it's light, focused and frenetic and as a consequence, oddly compelling. Emerson, Bishop and Ford all play their roles with aplomb, turning an otherwise mediocre women's prison movie into an entertaining hour.

JohnHowardReid The "B" films from major studios usually look far more glossy and professional than those turned out from Poverty Row, even when the subject matter is virtually identical. This is not to say that they are necessarily more entertaining. A fair case in point is this cleaned-up version of a gritty Barbara Stanwyck melodrama. It looks slick and it runs smooth, but although competently acted, it doesn't hold a candle to the more earthy original. Mind you, there are compensations. It's always good to see Faye Emerson in a lead role, and she receives great support from Julie Bishop, Dorothy Vaughan, Virginia Brissac and Vera Lewis. But it's Dorothy Adams, in a meaty role for once, who actually steals the acting honors. By contrast, the male players contribute considerably less to the movie's fair-enough success. Roland Drew makes an attempt at the chief villain, while Frank Wilcox takes aim at the hero. Both fall short. Jackie Gleason in a straight role here as one of the gangsters might have had a chance had his role not been so disappointingly small. Ever reliable Charles Wilson gets the nod instead.

classicsoncall All the elements were here for an intriguing and gritty gangster/prison drama, but once Dot Burton (Faye Emerson) wound up at the penitentiary, the film started a lot to resemble a high school sorority league. All smiles and chatty, Dot and her new jailbird friend Myrtle (Julie Bishop) wind up scheming about how she can make the best of her sentence, until the time comes to claim the forty thousand dollars she scammed from her bumbling partners. I have to give the film makers credit for dressing up mobster Carey Wells (Roland Drew) in drag, that was both clever and corny at the same time. I'd love to know how many takes were necessary to film the visitation scene when Dot's 'sister' comes to see her in prison.The relationship between Dot Burton and Ken Phillips (Frank Wilcox) didn't quite work for me either, especially from her side. I mean seriously, what did she see in this guy to spark a romantic angle? Especially since she knew him as an adult when she was still a kid. The plot would have worked without going for this stretch.The surprise for me in the story was one of Jackie Gleason's very early screen appearances when he was still using the middle initial 'C'. Unfortunately he didn't have a whole lot to do as the gang's getaway driver. If you get the chance, try to catch him in the Bogart film "All Through The Night" where in a similar role he gets to weigh in on World War II military strategy and how the Allies could win.As I sit here writing this, the thought occurred to me that as a Warner Brothers film, this could just as easily have been an East Side Kids story, with all the female leads replaced by Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, et al. Throw in Ann Sheridan for the Ken Phillips character and you would have had a much livelier story. Still, at just a couple of minutes over an hour, "Lady Gangster" is an interesting little diversion, but don't go in expecting to see a real lady gangster.