The Lady and the Mob (1939)

Lila Thorne (Ida Lupino) is engaged to Fred Leonard (Lee Bowman). Lila travels to meet Leonard's mother, on her own, and the lady turns out to be a very eccentric and very wealthy old lady, Hattie Leonard (Fay Bainter). As soon as they get to Hattie Leonard's house, she sets Lila to work taking dictation for a letter to the local dry-cleaner, complaining about his increased charges. When the owner calls round to explain himself, he explains that there is a protection racket running, that he has to pay money to. Mrs Leonard decides to be at the man's shop next time the mob call for their money.

She does so, but the thug takes the money and ignores her protests, and her immediate visit to the mayor doesn't produce any confidence either. So she wires her son in New York, telling him to send a reformed criminal, Frankie O'Fallon (Warren Hymer) to the town immediately. She posts him at the dry cleaner's the next week, but he is overpowered and has to go to hospital. Not to be beaten, she tells him to recruit a mob of his own to fight the criminals, but as he is under police surveillance himself, he tells the District Attorney of her plans, and he recruits various local criminals as special deputies, to act under cover for her.

So they congregate at her mansion, and shortly they move over to the gangsters' offices -- apparently these gangsters do have offices -- and pulling guns on them, Mrs Leonard demands that they return the money and get out of town. Sensing that they might not do so, she decides to call on other dry cleaners who are being threatened, and after Mr Aaron Aardvark hands over his protection money to a gangster, Mrs Leonard and her gang take the money back to him, to his amazement. [The original dry cleaning proprietor was Mr Zambrogio.] There seem to be a large number of dry cleaning businesses in town, and she visits them all. But in the process of fighting the gangsters, all the shops get broken to pieces, and the dry cleaners visit her at her mansion to beg her to stop. She makes an impassioned speech about freedom and the rights of Americans, and they decide to hold out, just as the gangsters drive by and shoot off their weapons as a warning.

Lila Thorne now volunteers to invite the gangster to a seductive meal in a restaurant; the aim is to find out who Mr Big is. Mrs Leonard's gang kidnap the man, and eventually he spills the beans -- it is the corrupt mayor. Mrs Leonard goes to demand his resignation, and he has her put in jail. Her gang visit her there, and she says they have to get her out, so that she can gather the proof of the mayor's wrong-doing. With the aid of a crane, they switch one of her mob, dressed in her clothing and get her out. "Don't forget to come back," he says. Unfortunately he is only very indsitinctly seen, but the routine night checks in the cells don't expose the substitution. They blow open a safe deposit box at the bank and the mayor is fully incriminated, only finding time to officiate at the wedding of Lila and Fred before going to jail himself.

It's all zany stuff, and very dated, but this funny film is well worth watching.

HF December 2009

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