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

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers (WGA):

MacKinlay Kantor (screenplay) and
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay) (front Millard Kaufman) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 January 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

SHE BELIEVES IN TWO THINGS...-love and violence! (original poster)

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Gun | Robbery | Shooting | Carnival | Friend

Awards:

1 win

Cast

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
Frances Irvin	...	Danceland Singer (as Frances Irwin)
Robert Osterloh	...	Hampton Policeman
Shimen Ruskin	...	Cab Driver
Harry Hayden	...	Mr. Mallenberg
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Barr	...	Proprietor / Diner Cook (uncredited)
Don Beddoe	...	Man from Chicago (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	Plant Foreman (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn	...	State Policeman on Phone (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Man Running Out of Robbed Market (uncredited)
Ross Elliott	...	Detective (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Cashier (uncredited)
Pat Gleason	...	Carnival Barker (uncredited)
Arthur Hecht	...	Ira Flagler (uncredited)
George Lynn	...	Holdup Victim (uncredited)
William J. O'Brien	...	Customer at Sharpshooting Act (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	California Border Inspector (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	Meat Plant Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph H. Lewis

Writing credits (WGA)
MacKinlay Kantor		(screenplay) and
Dalton Trumbo		(screenplay) front Millard Kaufman
MacKinlay Kantor		(story "Gun Crazy")
Millard Kaufman		(front for Dalton Trumbo)

Produced by
Frank King	....	producer
Maurice King	....	producer

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Russell Harlan		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harry W. Gerstad		(as Harry Gerstad)

Production Design by
Gordon Wiles

Set Decoration by
Raymond Boltz Jr.

Makeup Department
Carla Hadley	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Allen K. Wood	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Heath	....	assistant director (as Frank S. Heath)

Sound Department
Tom Lambert	....	sound engineer

Stunts
Dale Van Sickel	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lloyd Garnell	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Eddie Jones	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Harry Lewis	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norma Koch	....	wardrobe: Miss Cummins (as Norma)

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator
Stuart Frye	....	music editor
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Arthur Gardner	....	assistant to producers
Jack Herzberg	....	continuity
Herman King	....	technical advisor
Madeleine Robinson	....	dialogue coach
Al J. Jennings	....	technical consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• King Brothers Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Stern-Film Verleih (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Deadly Is the Female" - USA (original title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #14023) | West Germany:16 (nf) | UK:PG (2008) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

2300 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

King Brothers Productions

Trivia:

The movie's poster was as #25 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After Bart and Annie ditch the car in the mountains and are on foot, Annie says she's tired. He tells her it's because of the altitude. At the end they're in a swamp. A swamp in the mountains at high altitude?

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Exhumed (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)

"Bart, I've been kicked around all my life, and from now on, I'm gonna start kicking back."

At the time, such an idea of having the heroes being the criminals was un-heard of, but Joseph H. Lewis's film deservedly has its claim of being the little B-movie that could (forgive the mechanical analogy) by inspiring the French new-wave and other films like Bonnie & Clyde. The idea of having a tragic love story pitted in the middle of noir facade was also seen in the equally powerful low-budget They Live by Night. But while Nicholas Ray's film is more impressive on its emotional stakes, Gun Crazy rakes up points for some of its technical achievements. The style implemented by Lewis and DP Russel Harlan (also responsible for the great photography in Red River) adds excitement to the more suspenseful, even violent scenes, and adds some sentiment to the softer ones involving the couple. And I love the scenes where young Bart can't seem to put away his fascination with guns.

Bart (John Dall) starts off as a boy, and in some of these early scenes (some of the best in the film), we see how he is changed by an unfortunate act, and then the story skips ahead suddenly. Now Bart is an adult, out of the army, and gets re-introduced to guns once he meets his soon-to-be love and partner in crime, Annie, played by Peggy Cummins. From there, after getting married and needing (or rather wanting) money, they start robbing banks across country, but soon to meet their demise. But more than anything, the film's focus isn't one where 'crime doesn't pay' or some kind of typical, of-the-period nonsense. Like the Asphalt Jungle, we're given these conflicted, emotional beings who may meet their own ends with each other before the law. And in the film-noir tradition, it's the woman here who will act as a main catalyst for the end of them. It's psychological side of danger, pathological lies, and the pattern of a downward spiral in having to commit violent acts (even un-intentionally), becomes what really pulls in the viewer into the picture, aside from the more loose, on-location 'real' style and interesting camera-work.

Under more 'B-movie' conditions, Lewis sneaks in plenty of chances to look past some of the more cardboard cut-out forms the characters could have been. The acting by the leads is also very good, the script mostly by Dalton Trumbo is one of his best, and both understand how one reflects the other. Cummins is perfect in her part, even if Dall isn't quite as much a stand-out (though, of course, he's the sap to her more wicked side). Also out of the script comes cool lines like the one listed in the summary. It's a notch above many other B-noirs of the period, and should be seen by most serious fans of the 'mood' that came in noir films. A bit cynical, fatalistic to be sure, but it's smart too.