Sexually abused as a young girl, Kate "Ma" Barker grows into a violent and powerful woman by the 1930s. She lovingly dominates her grown sons and grooms them into a pack of tough crooks. The boys include the cruel Herman, who still shares a bed with Ma; Fred, an ex-con who fell in love with a fellow prisoner; and Lloyd, who gets high on whatever's handy. Together they form a deadly, bizarre family of Depression-era bandits.
Shelley Winters
as 'Ma' Kate Barker
Pat Hingle
as Sam Adams Pendlebury
Don Stroud
as Herman Barker
Diane Varsi
as Mona Gibson
Bruce Dern
as Kevin Dirkman
Clint Kimbrough
as Arthur Barker
Robert De Niro
as Lloyd Barker
Robert Walden
as Fred Barker
Alex Nicol
as George Barker
Pamela Dunlap
as Rembrandt
Michael Fox
as Dr. Roth
Scatman Crothers
as Moses
