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Gun Crazy

  • 1950
  • Approved
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
16K
YOUR RATING
Peggy Cummins and John Dall in Gun Crazy (1950)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:37
2 Videos
96 Photos
Film NoirCrimeDramaRomanceThriller

Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.

  • Director
    • Joseph H. Lewis
  • Writers
    • MacKinlay Kantor
    • Millard Kaufman
    • Dalton Trumbo
  • Stars
    • John Dall
    • Peggy Cummins
    • Berry Kroeger
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    16K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Joseph H. Lewis
    • Writers
      • MacKinlay Kantor
      • Millard Kaufman
      • Dalton Trumbo
    • Stars
      • John Dall
      • Peggy Cummins
      • Berry Kroeger
    • 166User reviews
    • 77Critic reviews
    • 74Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:37
    Official Trailer
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    Clip 5:23
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
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    Photos96

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    Top cast39

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    John Dall
    John Dall
    • Bart Tare
    Peggy Cummins
    Peggy Cummins
    • Annie Laurie Starr
    Berry Kroeger
    Berry Kroeger
    • Packett
    Morris Carnovsky
    Morris Carnovsky
    • Judge Willoughby
    Anabel Shaw
    Anabel Shaw
    • Ruby Tare Flagler
    Harry Lewis
    Harry Lewis
    • Deputy Clyde Boston
    Nedrick Young
    Nedrick Young
    • Dave Allister
    Trevor Bardette
    Trevor Bardette
    • Sheriff Boston
    Mickey Little
    • Bart Tare (age 7)
    Russ Tamblyn
    Russ Tamblyn
    • Bart Tare (age 14)
    • (as Rusty Tamblyn)
    Paul Frison
    • Clyde Boston (age 14)
    David Bair
    • Dave Allister (child)
    • (as Dave Bair)
    Stanley Prager
    Stanley Prager
    • Bluey-Bluey
    Virginia Farmer
    Virginia Farmer
    • Miss Wynn
    Anne O'Neal
    • Miss Augustine Sifert
    Frances Irvin
    • Danceland Singer
    • (as Frances Irwin)
    Robert Osterloh
    Robert Osterloh
    • Hampton Policeman
    Shimen Ruskin
    Shimen Ruskin
    • Cab Driver
    • Director
      • Joseph H. Lewis
    • Writers
      • MacKinlay Kantor
      • Millard Kaufman
      • Dalton Trumbo
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews166

    7.615.8K
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    Featured reviews

    7evanston_dad

    Fine Precursor to "Bonnie and Clyde"

    The original title of "Gun Crazy" was "Deadly Is the Female," and they ain't kidding. If you thought Faye Dunaway's Bonnie Parker was the more ruthless member of the crime duo that gave Arthur Penn's 1967 film its name, wait till you get a load of Peggy Cummins's Annie in this little known cheapie from 1949. I wouldn't want to get on this woman's bad side; she can shoot cigarettes out of people's mouths, for God's sake.

    "Gun Crazy" is such an obvious influence on Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" that I can't believe the later film doesn't credit it directly. Though the 1949 film is based on a short story that appeared in the "Saturday Evening Post" and the 1967 film worked with an original screenplay, both films could have been adapted from the same source. They portray the Annie/Bonnie character as bored and restless, turned on by the thought of crime and by a manly man who can really use his "gun." The Bart/Clyde character is tickled by the idea of being a virile stud in the eyes of his lover, but is ultimately too sensitive for the life they choose. And both films do a good job of portraying the desperation that plagues both couples, the isolation and loneliness they create for themselves and can never break out of, and the ultimate futility of their actions, since the "law" is going to catch up with them sooner or later.

    Peggy Cummins is really good in this. I don't know what else she's been in, but her baby-doll voice creates an effective contrast to her colder-than-ice attitude. She's crooning into her lover's ear one minute and itching to kill someone the next. And you have to dig those French-inspired fashions that would cause a sensation nearly 20 years later when Dunaway donned them again for Penn's film.

    I thought John Dall was at first odd casting for the role of Bart. Annie is supposed to think of him as a man's man, and Dall, with his willowy physique and gentle mannerisms is far from that. But then when we realize that he's at heart really too gentle for the life he and Annie have chosen for themselves, his casting makes sense.

    There are some small touches to this film that really add to its immediacy and realism. I loved the scenes of Annie and Bart driving to and from their heist jobs, shot from the back seat of the car as if we are a member of their gang. They have really funny and natural banter back and forth about where to park, etc. which I have to believe was improvised to some extent. The ending of the film, a face off in a creepy swamp, is eerie, and there's a small twist in the last seconds of the film that might be easy to miss but may give you some things to think about if you catch it.

    It's interesting, and rather depressing, that one of the main themes of this film is the obsession with guns and violence that pervaded the country nearly 60 years ago, and here we are a handful of wars later, still dragging around the same old obsessions. Michael Moore's recent documentary "Bowling for Columbine" could have just as easily been called "Gun Crazy," if that title weren't already taken by this forgotten little blast of a movie.

    Grade: A-
    9sorterdave

    The original title was "Gun Crazy" and it was released in 1949

    I have long been a fan of Film Noir. I consider this film to be unique and one of the best. The first and only time I saw it in a theater was in 1949 when I was 14. It was titled "Gun Crazy". I thought it was great but it didn't receive rave reviews or last long in hometown theaters. I understand they renamed it "Deadly Is The Female" in 1950 for its release in England, reason being that co-star Peggy Cummins was British and emphasizing the female star would be better box-office.

    In the years that passed I wanted to see it again but it didn't appear on TV or later on any videotape that I knew of. In the 1983 Richard Geer film "Breathless" there is a chase scene where he is trying to escape by way of the stage behind a movie screen. On that screen was playing what I immediately recognized as "Gun Crazy". Over the years since then I have continued to look for the movie but was unable to find it. Less than a month ago I found it on DVD and purchased an excellent copy. I found that the movie is just as good as I remember it.

    The film is essentially a story of a boy named Bart Tare (Russ Tamblyn) who loves guns for sport but refuses to harm any living being with them. After stealing one from a local store, he is caught and sent to a reformatory. The story continues four reformatory years plus one army hitch later when an adult Bart (John Dall) is discharged. He and some friends go to a cheap carnival where he sees and immediately falls for a trick shot artist, Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins). He beats her in a shooting contest but is offered a job in the act rather than the prize he was supposed to win.

    Bart is unaware of her dark past, which includes hints of prostitution and the murder of a man in St. Louis. After a showdown with the jealous carnival owner they run off together and get married. When their money runs out, Bart wants to get a job but Annie Laurie's mind runs in a different direction, armed robbery. Reluctantly, Bart gives in and they set off on a spree of low paying stickups. By this time, Bart is increasingly aware that Annie Laurie has homicidal tendencies that he is barely able to keep under control. They plan a big-time robbery during which she kills two people without his knowledge. The rest of the movie deals with their flight from justice and ultimate payment for their crimes. In all, it is a classic scenario of "Bad Girl" leads a "Good Boy" into evil.

    Personal opinion is that John Dall did a better acting job in this movie than he did in "Rope". In a bit of self-analysis I must admit that I have long been fascinated by "Wicked Women". This movie alone placed Peggy Cummins among my favorite "femme fatales", which included the queen of mean, Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich, Beverly Michaels and other notables.

    If you like classic film noir, it is a good movie to remember and see again.
    8Bucs1960

    What a Bad Dame!!!

    Peggy Cummins is the epitome of the bad dame.....in a word, terrific. The casting of this British actress was probably chancy for director Lewis but he hit paydirt. She comes across as a woman who wants it all and doesn't care how she gets it. Besides, she like to kill and wants to do "Just one more job." The choice of John Dall for the male lead was even more chancy. Dall, a stage actor, certainly wasn't very masculine and his acting revealed his stage background. But, again, Lewis hit the jackpot since it made the control that Cummins had over him even more believable.

    The story has already been discussed on these boards so I won't repeat it except to say that it moves along at a rapid pace and keeps you enthralled from the beginning (well, not quite. Forget the sappy prologue and get right to the story.) A lot has been said about the one shot (from the back seat of the car) bank robbery but it is dynamite. It is said that Dall and Cummins' dialogue is improvised and that when you hear someone shout" The bank has been robbed", it is an actual pedestrian who did not know that a movie was being made. Now that's realism.

    This little B thriller is as good as it gets and belongs right up there with "Detour", the gem of low-budget films. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!
    9hitchcockthelegend

    The Real Sex Pistols.

    Bart Tare (John Dall) had a fascination with guns from an early age, even getting sent to a reform school at the age of 14 for yet another gun related incident. Back home now as an adult, after a stint in the army, he falls for a sharp-shooting carnival girl called Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) and promptly joins the act. But after a fall out with the boss, the pair hit the road and turn to a life of crime - with Annie particularly showing a thirst for gun-play.

    No doubt inspired by real life outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, "Deadly Is the Female" (AKA: Gun Crazy) is as good a "doomed lovers on the lam" picture that has ever been made. It may be a "B" movie in terms of production, but no doubt about it, this film is stylish, crafty and also very sexy. Directed by the unsung Joseph H. Lewis ("My Name Is Julia Ross/The Big Combo"), it's based on a story written by MacKinlay Kantor that was reworked by Millard Kaufman (AKA: the then blacklisted "Dalton Trumbo"), into one that links sex and violence whilst simultaneously casting an eye over gun worship and its place in the American way of life. Dall & Cummings looked on the surface an odd pairing, but under Lewis' direction they go together like gun and holster (ahem). He is well spoken, almost elegantly fragile with his musings, yet underneath there is still this twitchy gun fanatic. She is savvy, almost virginal in sexuality, but ultimately she's a wild cat who's practically un-tamable.

    The work of Lewis here should not be understated, check out the quite sublime continuous one take bank robbery. While marvel throughout at his long takes, use of angles, deep focus and jerking camera movements - all of which dovetail with our protagonists as they go on their nihilistic journey. But perhaps his master-stoke was with his preparation tactics for his two leads?. Sending them out with permission to improvise, he fired them up with sexual pep talks, and the result, in spite of the inevitable "code" restrictions, is a near masterpiece, a true genre highlight, and a film that continues to influence as much as it still entertains. 9/10
    9Mike-764

    Crazy bout this underrated gem

    Sharpshooters Ben Tare and Annie Laurie Starr, fall in love at a carnival sideshow, marry soon after and hope for a peaceful married life. When the money runs out Annie tells Ben that using the guns for nefarious purposes will the only way for them to survive. While placid Ben agrees to the proposal, trigger happy Annie soon gets them deeper and deeper in trouble with the law following robbery after robbery, stickup after stickup, until it becomes kill or be killed. Very daring and overlooked film, rises above the status of the B movie genre to which this film is delegated to. Cummins is perfect as the gun-crazed, as well the love-hungry Annie. Great cinematography by Russell Harlan, shooting all of the bank holdups from the back seat of the couple's car, making the audience feel a part of the getaway. Rating, 9 of 10

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The bank heist sequence was done entirely in one take, with no one other than the principal actors and people inside the bank aware that a movie was being filmed. When John Dall as Bart Tare says, "I hope we find a parking space," he really meant it, as there was no guarantee that there would be one. In addition, at the end of the sequence someone in the background screams that there's been a bank robbery - this was a bystander who saw the filming and assumed the worst.
    • Goofs
      While trying (unsuccessfully) to escape capture in the mountains, Annie maintains possession of her purse, which she drops in the stream they're stumbling through. Immediately thereafter, she has it back.
    • Quotes

      Bart: Two people dead, just so we can live without working!

    • Connections
      Edited into Crime Wave (1953)
    • Soundtracks
      Mad About You
      Music by Victor Young

      Lyrics by Ned Washington

      Sung by Frances Irvin

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    FAQ18

    • How long is Gun Crazy?Powered by Alexa

    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 20, 1950 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • HBOMAX
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Muerte al amanecer
    • Filming locations
      • 2300 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA(Armour meatpacking plant)
    • Production companies
      • King Brothers Productions
      • Pioneer Pictures Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $400,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $17,322
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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