Mama Runs Wild
Cast & Crew
Ralph Staub
Mary Boland
Ernest Truex
William Henry
Lynne Roberts
Max Terhune
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When meek, henpecked Calvin Summers is approached by glib real estate salesman C. Preston Simms, he is quickly talked into buying a house in a new suburban development called Paradise Park. Although Calvin's wife Alice is disgruntled by her husband's impetuous purchase, the couple move with their college student daughter Edith to their new home. Social-minded Alice fits easily into the small community, and notoriety soon comes her way when she is present at a bank robbery. The robbers take the money from her handbag before returning the bag to her, and the police are then able to obtain the criminals' fingerprints from her purse. This leads to the apprehension of the robbers, and Alice is acclaimed as a heroine in numerous newsreels, radio broadcasts and speeches by public officials. She is made an honorary police captain, and her fame quickly goes to her head. She and the other women of the town decide that Paradise Park must be kept free of all possible corrupting influences, and their first target is a local bar, called Gate's Ajar, which is owned by Tom Fowler. Tom's son Paul, a law student, is courting Edith, and while Alice is trying to get Tom's bar closed, she also is trying to end the youngsters' friendship. When the police refuse to aid the women's crusade, they decide to run Alice for mayor. Soon a heated campaign begins, as the women lobby hard for Alice, and their husbands, who are feeling neglected, decide to run Calvin as Alice's opponent. The men try to sabotage the women's momentum by only allowing them a pittance for household money, and the wives retaliate by refusing to keep house. The husbands all move out to Fowler's Paradise Lake, where they establish a camp for men only. After many recriminations and regrets on both sides, the big day finally arrives. Alice is crushed upon hearing the election results, for she has received only two votes. The women, desperate to return to their husbands, all voted for Calvin. Deciding that it would be best for her to leave Paradise Park, Alice returns home to pack, and there she is confronted by Calvin. He tells her that he cast half of the votes for her and asks her to stay to help him with all the social responsibilities of his new position. Alice is glad to accept, and the couple reunite amidst the cheers of the men celebrating Calvin's victory.
Director
Ralph Staub
Cast
Mary Boland
Ernest Truex
William Henry
Lynne Roberts
Max Terhune
Joseph Crehan
Dorothy Page
Dewey Robinson
Julius Tannen
Sammy Mckim
John Sheehan
James C. Morton
Crew
George Blair
Alberto Colombo
Eloise
Gordon Kahn
Gordon Kahn
John Victor Mackay
Edward Mann
Ernest Miller
Frank Rowan
Murray Seldeen
Paul Gerard Smith
Ralph Staub
Al Wilson
Hal Yates
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Paradise Park and Mother Runs Wild. According to Hollywood Reporter news items, Jerome Chodorov was assigned to work on the script, and Burt Kelly and Herman Schlom were set to produce the picture. Chodorov's contribution to the complete film, however, has not been confirmed, and Kelly and Schlom were replaced by Ralph Staub. According to the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, the PCA rejected an early version of the script and advised Republic: "The suggestions that the women of Paradise Park will not permit their husbands marital relations, due to the strong feelings about the election, must be eliminated entirely....There is too much drinking and drunkenness....The details of the bank robbery are too explicit....Extreme care should be used in the handling of the protest of the women's groups to the police department...so that these will be purely comedy and will not reflect unfavorably upon sincere reform groups." Once the screenplay was revised to tone down the objectionable elements, it was approved by the PCA.
