Review of Ma Barker's Killer Brood

Perhaps not historically accurate but I enjoyed this 1960 gangster picture, made many years after the Warner Brothers cycle but having similar elements. Anchoring the film is an awesome performance from Lurene Tuttle as Ma Barker, a multi dimensional character that you almost feel sorry for but not quite. The other actors apart from the great Byron Foulger pale beside Ms. Tuttle. There are lots of good scenes; the Russian roulette during the picnic, the party with the different mobsters, the attempt to muscle in on Ma's kidnapping of a bank president; the shootout at the end. It's low budget and uses stock footage but it is lively and never boring.