. . . as the 17 "talking heads" featured in MOLLS AND DOLLS: THE WOMEN OF GANGSTER FILMS conclude that James Cagney was a PUBLIC ENEMY off-screen as well as on-, and squashed the offending citrus piece into actress Mae Clarke's visage just for the sadistic pleasure of it back in 1931. Among those weighing in on this and other heavy matters are Robert Evans, Michael Madsen, Frank Miller, Theresa Russell, Martin Scorsese, and Talia Shire. Like all of Warner Bros. DVD "extra" documentary shorts from director Gary Leva, MOLLS AND DOLLS is very hit-and-miss. Attributions are spotty (especially of the film clips), and the focus is all over the wall. The one constant is that almost every example used here is from a movie which Warner Home Video was trying to sell in the DVD format in 2006, when MOLLS AND DOLLS was released. Haden Guest and Irwin Winkler get no face time here, though they are "thanked" in the acknowledgments. Many intriguing questions are never even asked. For instance, was Ms. Clarke allergic to citrus? Were there so many takes that she broke out into a facial rash? Was the "five second rule" in effect for actually eating this morsel after the final take? We may never know.
2 Reviews
Fun Look at Bad Ladies
Michael_Elliott5 April 2012
Molls and Dolls: The Women of Gangster Films (2006)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Martin Scorsese, Drew Casper, Larry Cohen, Michael Madsen, Frank Miller, Nicholas Pileggi, Theresa Russell, Talia Shire, Eric Lax, Robert Evans and Lincoln Hurst are just a few of the people who turn up in this 21-minute documentary that takes a look at the female's role in gangster pictures. We see clips from a dozen or so movies like THE PUBLIC ENEMY, THE ROARING TWENTIES and other Warner stuff as we see how the roles for females changed as time went along. We cover the early stuff where women were mainly used to be pushed around and then we get to where they were able to hang with the boys and enter the illegal business. We also see how the virginal female was always on hand to try and make the bad gangster see the good that he could do. Overall this is another very good featurette from Warner as this really does give you a great idea of the films as well as some of the actresses who really shined during these films. Seeing all the familiar faces talking about movies they love was another good thing even if some of them only get one brief clip to talk about. Fans of the genre should really enjoy seeing this interviews and those unfamiliar with the movies will have a lot of great recommendations.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Martin Scorsese, Drew Casper, Larry Cohen, Michael Madsen, Frank Miller, Nicholas Pileggi, Theresa Russell, Talia Shire, Eric Lax, Robert Evans and Lincoln Hurst are just a few of the people who turn up in this 21-minute documentary that takes a look at the female's role in gangster pictures. We see clips from a dozen or so movies like THE PUBLIC ENEMY, THE ROARING TWENTIES and other Warner stuff as we see how the roles for females changed as time went along. We cover the early stuff where women were mainly used to be pushed around and then we get to where they were able to hang with the boys and enter the illegal business. We also see how the virginal female was always on hand to try and make the bad gangster see the good that he could do. Overall this is another very good featurette from Warner as this really does give you a great idea of the films as well as some of the actresses who really shined during these films. Seeing all the familiar faces talking about movies they love was another good thing even if some of them only get one brief clip to talk about. Fans of the genre should really enjoy seeing this interviews and those unfamiliar with the movies will have a lot of great recommendations.
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