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After a prologue that features the authorities evicting the Stokes family from their tenant farm in Arkansas, the timeline fast-forwards to 1958 where the same Stokes family from the prologue can be found in sunny California. The Stokes women are now attempting to keep their hairdressing business afloat and to add to this chaos, they rob their landlord Backus and flee the state.
In a hurry to get out of California, the women conveniently forget to bring their grandchildren’s boyfriends, Shaun (Donn Most), who happens to be the father of one unborn child and another suitor, Snake (Englund) who is a biker. The daughter Melba (Leachman) who is also fond of the glamour city of Las Vegas finds herself in the arms of a womanizing monster named Jim-Bob (Whitman). With the marriage rush, he also promises to help her get the house back and to add to this chaos, Melba is also fond of the glamorous city of Las Vegas.
Jenkins and Margaret joyfully break laws while going on a road trip across America. They ‘arrest’ all types of people and places as well as rob gas stations and banks. Their modus operandi includes holding Jim-Bob hostage of course, this is just so that they can collect ransom money from the other wife but it’s all in good fun, right? Jenkins and Margaret seem to have an endless supply of cash to spend as they please. However, it all comes to a crash when they suddenly have the entire law enforcement looking for them and when they trying taking a breath at their new final destination, the country seems as if it has completely transformed since they have been absent.
As one of the taglines “In 1957, Cheryl Drove Her Mom’s Chevy on a Heavy Date Got Knocked Up, Knocked Over a Bank, Smashed Four Police Cars, and Kidnapped Her Stepfather” depicts, she seemingly goes through hilarious misfortunes in the year.
Crazy Mama was produced by Roger Corman and his wife Julie. It makes fun of its ridiculous premise and somehow manages to do so without much collateral damage. While this movie makes one cringe due to its absurdness, it highlights some key points such as the hardships the general public goes through in the modern economy.
The film has some funny performances, especially from the female leads, despite the acting being at times ‘pantomime.’ In contrast to the more subdued Ann Sothern, Sheba Stokes’s grandma, Cloris Leachman and Linda Pearl are more A-grade and showy, but their interpretations are always a bit of a mess. Likewise, there are lots of strange supporting characters and background artists that Demme has populated his dramatic canvas with. I particularly liked the crazy old lady Merie Earle plays who the girls encounter at the slot machines in Vegas. She is funny.
Although the movie uses a great deal of stock footage (like the carnival scene), it is well-directed and framed, with some bright colours used. It also has some great car and motorcycle stunts as well. All the delightful visuals are supported by a genuinely good soundtrack including many immense hits from the 50s. Although the theme track was indeed composed by Snotty Scotty and the Hankies – yes, you heard it correctly.
Crazy Mama isn’t complete exploitation for sure. However, it does sometimes cross into that territory and Demme does a great job keeping things simple, letting his cameras focus on the beautiful Linda Pearl just a few times. The collaboration of Demme and Corman surely made a decent continuation of the previous extreme Bloody Mama from 1970. However, this one comes with a lot more general-style scream comedy to appeal to a bigger audience.
You can listen to the audio commentary with Jonathan Demme and Roger Corman, the director and executive producer, respectively. The two have a cordial conversation about the production and sprinkle in some interesting stories. Apparently, the beach they shot on became known as ‘Corman’s Beach’ since he was filming on it so often! Also worth mentioning is that actress Ann Sothern wanted a closeup of herself in every shot, and Stuart Whitman ended up becoming a property developer.
Interview with Jonathan Demme and Roger Corman (15 mins) Once again, we have a lot of talking points including that Demme started as a publicist before being asked to help out on a Corman film by writing a motorbike movie.
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