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Crazy Mama is a 1975 American action comedy film, directed by Jonathan Demme, produced by Julie Corman and starring Cloris Leachman. It marked the film debuts of Bill Paxton and Dennis Quaid.
The film focuses on a beauty parlor owner and her family, who lose their belongings to repossession. The trio of women soon start a crime spree. Their confrontation with law enforcement officers ends in a shootout.
On the road, heading back to Arkansas to reclaim the family farm, the Stokes women begin a crime spree. They rob a gas station first, then head for Las Vegas. In pursuit of pregnant Cheryl is her boyfriend, Shawn, while Melba meets up with a runaway Texas sheriff, Jim Bob Trotter. Further battles with the law along the way eventually lead to a shootout in which Jim Bob and others are killed. Melba is left alone, on the lam, but begins life again in a new town with a new look.
The original director was Shirley Clarke but she was fired ten days prior to filming. Roger Corman had presold the film to exhibitors and the cast and start date was set. He called in Jonathan Demme, who had made Caged Heat for Corman and was also preparing Fighting Mad for him, and offered Demme the job of directing.Chris Nashawaty, Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie, Abrams, 2013 p 147 Demme refused but Corman told him he had to if he wanted to make Fighting Mad. Demme agreed if his wife could direct second unit.
Demme said he told Corman, "I want to help you out, but I know this is going to end poorly... you can't jump in this fast on a movie, make it in three weeks, and then have two weeks for the editing, mix it in one day and hope for a good picture. It's going to be a mess, you're going to perceive it as a mess, you're going to get mad at me." But Corman insisted they proceed.Demme p 168
Demme said "all the actors hated the script - with good reason: it was lousy. It had a couple of good scenes in it, but it left a lot to be desired. It was one of those awful situations where you're trying to write it while you're shooting it. It also got shot too fast."
Demme did make some changes to the script. In the original draft the movie ended with all the leads being killed. Demme did not like that so he changed it so that everyone escaped, except for the character played by Ann Sothern as Demme disliked Sothern. Corman disliked this change, feeling that there was no ending. Demme then shot an alternative ending with the family running a burger stand in Miami in 1959.Christopher T Koetting, Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, Hemlock Books. 2009 p 86-87
Producer Julie Corman gave birth to her first child during production. Demme recalled " We were shooting a big gunfight/car crash scene and we had an ambulance standing by, and Julie went into labor. And our ambulance left with the producer being rushed to hospital to give birth.”
Bill Paxton was a set dresser on the film and had his first speaking role in the movie.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 12 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 6.5/10.
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