The low-budget film was directed by Bill Karn and starred Lurene Tuttle as the title character, Ma Barker.

The film is a highly fictionalized account of the life of Ma Barker and her four sons, whose Barker-Karpis gang terrorized the South and Midwest in the 1930s with a string of kidnappings, robberies, and murders.

The gang members are also depicted working with other well-known criminals of the era, including John Dillinger (Eric Sinclair), and Baby Face Nelson (Robert Kendall).

To the horror of her husband, Kate Barker, known as "Ma," teaches her four young sons to steal money from the collection plate in church.

At a party she hosts for leading criminals Machine Gun Kelly, encouraged by his brash girlfriend Lou, claims he can work without her.

Knowing that Ma's son Doc Barker is attracted to her, Lou seduces him in order to bring him over to her side, but her plan is foiled when the FBI arrest him.