Gun Crazy (1950)
"Deadly Is the Female" (original title)

A well meaning crack shot husband is pressured by his beautiful marksman wife to go on an interstate robbery spree, where he finds out just how depraved and deadly she really is.

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers:

MacKinlay Kantor (screenplay), Dalton Trumbo (screenplay),

Stars:

Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peggy Cummins	...	Annie Laurie Starr
John Dall	...	Barton Tare
Berry Kroeger	...	Packett
Morris Carnovsky	...	Judge Willoughby
Anabel Shaw	...	Ruby Tare Flagler
Harry Lewis	...	Deputy Clyde Boston
Nedrick Young	...	Dave Allister
Trevor Bardette	...	Sheriff Boston
Mickey Little	...	Bart Tare (age 7)
Russ Tamblyn	...	Bart Tare (age 14) (as Rusty Tamblyn)
Paul Frison	...	Clyde Boston (age 14)
David Bair	...	Dave Allister (age 7) (as Dave Bair)
Stanley Prager	...	Bluey-Bluey
Virginia Farmer	...	Miss Wynn
Anne O'Neal	...	Miss Augustine Sifert

Storyline

Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival, where he meets the perfect girl, Annie, a sharp-shooting sideshow performer who loves guns as much as he. The two run off and marry, but Annie isn't happy with their financial situation, so at her behest the couple begins a crosscountry string of daring robberies. Never one to use guns for killing, Bart is dragged down into oblivion by the greedy and violent nature of the woman he loves.

---

Plot Keywords:

gun | robbery | shooting | carnival | friend | 

---

Taglines:

Nothing Deadlier Is Known To Man...

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gun Crazy

Filming Locations:

2300 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

King Brothers Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bart Tare and Laurie Starr are modeled on the infamous Depression-era bandits Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, who are also the subjects of Bonnie and Clyde, You Only Live Once and The Bonnie Parker Story.

---

Goofs

At about 1:15:40 as the crooks drive along a winding road, the shadow of the cameraman is briefly visible on the road surface.

---

Quotes

Bluey-Bluey: You're gonna see her again tonight, aren't you?
Bart: What's wrong with that?
Bluey-Bluey: Nothing, but she ain't the type that makes a happy home.
Bart: Alright, out with it. What's on your mind?
Bluey-Bluey: It's just that some guys are born smart about women and some guys are born dumb.
Bart: Some guys are born clowns.
Bluey-Bluey: You were born dumb.

---

Connections

Referenced in Trumbo (2007)

---

Soundtracks

"Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)"
(uncredited)
Music by Bernie Wayne
Lyrics by Ben Raleigh
Sung by Frances Irvin at the dance club

User Reviews

A Bad Woman Can Ruin You!

I had heard a lot about this when I first discovered "film noir," and I was not disappointed. It was very entertaining. I still enjoy watching this periodically, even after a half-dozen viewings.

John Dall and Peggy Cummins make one of the more interesting male-female pairings I've ever seen on film. Cummins is one of the prettiest women I've seen from the noir era and fascinating to view throughout this movie. I'm sorry her other films aren't on video. She didn't do many movies in the U.S.

The character Dall plays is good, too, although in the end his constant whining over the predicament he got into gets a little annoying. He plays the nice guy who is led astray by the bad woman. Yes, another classic example of the old Rabbinic saying that "a bad woman will always drag down a good man."

Innovative camera-work also make this fun to watch. At just under an hour-and- a-half, this is a fast-moving, always-entertaining film noir that lives up to its hype.