Shelly Winters plays a wild Ma Barker in this decent Roger Corman directed flick about the Barker gang of the great depression era. Everyone playing Ma Barkers sons, who include Robert Deniro, gives a good performance. Bruce Dern also has a small role as sort of an outside member of the gang. The Barker gang is on the run, lead by their fearless mother. They rob banks and whoever they can get their hands on. There is one particular good scene involving Deniro, complete with his Max Cady accent, where he acts on the advances of a young blonde swimmer who flirts with him while he sits on the dock. Her flirty ways turn to terror as Deniro realizes he tells her some forbidden information and can't afford to let her live. Deniro lost 30 pounds for the role. He also told Corman he could drive even though he didn't have a license. Pat Hingle, a great character actor, as a high profile man who the gang kidnaps to get ransom money is also very good. This film is no "Bonnie and Clyde" but I'm surprised it didn't get more attention. Worth a look.

This is an amazing film for 1970, and a good film to watch by itself today. A true gangster story, with no romantics at all. Evil people do evil things, they just do them because they are stupid and degenerated. No social comment is being made, and this is actually the best decision the script writer and the director could make. Only a completly social careless society can let such people 'enjoy the freedom', with the execution squad being the only 'educational tool' it knows. The viewer gets it by itself. The mix of documentary with the true story is discrete and smart. I liked the movie, and gave it 8/10 on my personal scale.