Crazy Mama

Set in 1957, Crazy Mama follows three generations of women who lose their beauty parlor in Long Beach, California when they fall behind on the rent. Melba Stokes, her elderly mother Sheba and her pregnant daughter Cheryl take to the road for Arkansas, where they hope to reclaim the family farm. Money is short, and the journey turns into a cross-country crime spree, with the women robbing their way eastward and picking up companions along the route, including Cheryl's boyfriend.

Jonathan Demme directed the film, the second of the fourteen features he made, following Caged Heat in 1974 and preceding Fighting Mad in 1976. Robert Thom wrote the screenplay, and Julie Corman produced. Cloris Leachman plays Melba, with Ann Sothern as Sheba, Linda Purl as Cheryl and Don Most as Shawn; Stuart Whitman and Jim Backus appear among the large credited cast of thirty-five, supported by a crew of forty-eight. Released in June 1975, the film runs eighty-three minutes and mixes action, comedy and crime.

On IMDb, voters rate Crazy Mama 5.4 out of 10 from about 1,200 votes, while on TMDB it holds 5.6 out of 10 from a much smaller group of twenty-five. A critics' rating of 6.5 out of 10 from twelve reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores, though the sample is small.