This is a remake of a much better pre-code drama that starred Barbara Stanwyck, "Ladies They Talk About". A better title of this would be "Lady Accomplice" because that is exactly what "B" actress Faye Emerson is playing here, a woman who calls the police (as Stanwyck did), diverts the police's attention by claiming witness to another crime, then getting a bank guard to open the bank early on the front of making a deposit. Of course, her part in the robbery which follows is revealed, and she is sentenced to a rather country-club like prison where the guards and the matron are certainly not as tough or ruthless as such others as Esther Dale ("Condemned Women"), Jane Darwell ("Girls in Prison"), Jeanne Cooper ("House of Women") or the most nefarious: Hope Emerson ("Caged") and Ida Lupino ("Women's Prison"). So this cleaned-up prison movie is a wimpy alternative to those others where it becomes very clear that the so-called "gentler sex" are getting just a tough of a time in rehabilitation as the men's prisons.But here, the real troublemakers are two stool pigeons (Dorothy Adams as a deaf inmate who can read lips, and Ruth Ford as the nastier one who reports everything to the matron) and discover that Emerson's intents to reveal the location of the money in the robbery is just a rouse to get revenge on the man (Frank Wilcox) who sent Emerson up the river as an attempt to reform her, an old childhood pal who is in love with her. The lack of racy dialog makes this a boring remake of a film that sizzled thanks to its pre-code innuendos of lesbianism and the delicious cut-downs between Stanwyck and the other inmates. Vera Lewis offers some amusing bits as the tough-talking old lady whom Emerson stashes the loot with, and a young Jackie Gleason is memorable as one of the gang members. Virginia Brissac plays the matron as if she was a high school principal, although the scene where Emerson gets one over on her is memorable. Fortunately short, this will never rank up there with other women's prison films, but makes an all right time filler.

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.

When I see old-time prison/crime movies, I laugh out loud at some of the things I see, at least compared to films of the last 40 years which may be very profane and sadistically violent but at least they are realistic.In this film, the lead female character " Dot Burton," played by Faye Emerson, is sent to a women's prison. Inside are all white women except one black, who dances all the time. Talk about a stereotype. Emerson and her best buddy in here look like lesser versions of Rita Hayworth, Look around and you more of these nice, wholesome-looking babes. I guarantee you no prison population has ever looked this good! Yes, there are a few "baddies" and, of course, they are ugly women. The story also gives us a typical classic movie romance in which a guy falls in love with a "dame" the first time he talks to her. Then she falls for him quickly and but right away, of course, there is a misunderstanding and now the woman hates him. Ten minutes later she loves him again, then hates him, then loves him, etc. etc. No wonder few people in the film world ever took marriage seriously. On screen,it was just one big joke.Anyway, the story is pretty interesting even if it is more than a bit too dated. The film might be noted more for having two very young actors in here than anything else, guys who went on to because famous on television in the 1950s: Paul Drake and Jackie Gleason. Drake was Perry Mason's assistant on hat hit TV show and Gleason, of course, went on to huge TV fame with "The Honeymooners" and other shows. Here, he is billed as Jackie C. C Gleason."Lady Gangster" is only a little over an hour which is fine and the DVD transfer was surprisingly good. This was part of a 4-movie disc called "Mobster Movies," put out by Platinum. I have two of these discs so there are eight films I can watch, movies that, as far as I can tell, were not available on VHS. The other movie I watched on one of the other discs did not have the good picture quality this one had, so they probably vary from film-to-film.But, despite the drawbacks, these 1930s films are fun to watch because they are fast-moving, short and entertaining.

I had a lot of fun watching this crime quickie from Warner Brothers studios. Lasting a rapidly paced 62 minutes, the film definitely entertains if your into the genre. Faye Emerson plays a would be actress who gets caught up with a gang of bank robbers and takes the rap for a $40,000 heist the gang pulled off. She ends up in jail and what follows is as many double crosses, prison spats, car chases and shootouts as you can possibly cram into 62 minutes. The film is directed with a nice flair for action by Robert Florey under the pseudonym of Florian Roberts. Good support for Emerson from a cast that includes Julie Bishop, Frank Wilcox, Ruth Ford(cute as a damn button) and a young Jackie Gleason. I must have really enjoyed this one as I couldn't believe how fast it flew by.