Gun Crazy

Released Jan 20, 1950

1h 27m

Crime

Drama

List

91%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

When gun-obsessed pacifist Bart Tare (John Dall) witnesses expert shooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) demonstrate her firearm prowess at a carnival one night, it's love at first sight. Aimless Bart joins the traveling show and begins a romance with Annie, but her dangerously rebellious spirit soon gets them both fired. After eloping, the young lovers embark on an armed robbery spree, managing to elude the authorities until Annie insists on pulling one last job.

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Critics Consensus

Well-acted and strikingly filmed, Gun Crazy (Deadly Is the Female) delves into the darkness of human nature with noir-fueled B-movie flair.

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Marion Aitchison

Miami Herald

Tightly knit suspense and deft character drawing make [Gun Crazy] one of the surprise thrillers of the season. You can fairly hear the audience holding its breath as events build up to the crashing climax.

Sep 15, 2021

Full Review

Mildred Martin

Philadelphia Inquirer

Dall is particularly good as the boy who only feels important with a gun in his hands, and Miss Cummins, a pleasant surprise histrionically as the girl who doesn't give a hoot about anything except John, money and not getting caught.

Sep 15, 2021

Full Review

Mae Tinee

Chicago Tribune

John Dall docs fine acting in this crime melodrama, which is frequently better than many of the more elaborate and expensive films on the same subject.

Sep 15, 2021

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... the greatest of the criminal lovers-on-the-run thriller, explodes onto the screen in a fury of sex and guns and love and violence... a masterpiece of style and a blast of cinematic ecstasy on a budget barely bigger than a B movie.

May 4, 2024

Full Review

Justine Smith

Vague Visages

In the film’s misty final stretch, the characters are lost in a dense fog. They anticipate their own demise, but they latch onto their weapons knowing very well that surrendering is no longer an option...

Nov 21, 2023

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

A vivacious, visually exciting noir.

Rated: A

Nov 23, 2022

Full Review

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Bill B

Overrated by the critics, the direction and pacing is a bit uneven in this Bonnie-and-Clyde type drama. Dall and Cummins are good and the finale is atmospheric.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/20/24

Full Review

harwee h

Somewhat a forgotten classic, but its about the cast in a pre-Bonnie and Clyde sense

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/06/24

Full Review

Simon T

An obvious template for Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands, this low budget fugitives-on-the-run thriller uses soundstages and back projection to speed through its penny dreadful plot and is greatly assisted by crisp cinematography and - despite their lack of chemistry - decent performances by its two gun-toting leads.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/15/23

Full Review

Matthew B

The obsession with firearms in the U.S. has been a matter of concern for many. It may even be said to form part of the basis of Gun Crazy, Joseph H Lewis's 1950 film noir. I am not saying that the story was written for the express purpose of making a point about the fetishisation of guns, but that is certainly the message that many might take away from the movie. Joseph H Lewis is not one of America's most famous directors. He remained stuck in the background world of B-Movies, making films on a low budget with less well-known actors. Nonetheless for those who are familiar with Lewis's work, there is much to treasure in this quirky offbeat moviemaker. We might also note the curious choice of lead actors. John Dall's most famous role is playing a homosexual murderer in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, Rope. I cannot recall seeing Peggy Cummins in any film other than Jacques Tourneur's horror movie, Curse of the Demon. Yet here both stars are cast in a completely different part. Even the screenplay has an unusual feature in that it was actually written by the blacklisted scriptwriter Dalton Trumbo under another name. Gun Crazy was made in a time when explicit violence and sex were censored on screen. Lewis seems to have made up for this in his instructions to his two actors. In one scene he suggested to Dall, "Your cock's never been so hard". As for Cummins, his instruction to her was, "You are a female dog in heat". Despite Lewis's efforts, neither actor exudes raw sexuality, but the director had to do the best he could with the actors available. The bank heist was carried out in one take, and members of the public were unaware what was happening. As in most scenes, Dall and Cummins did their own driving (it is said that Lewis only used one rear projection in the film). The typical camera shot is taken from the back of their getaway car, allowing the audience to see what they see. For the bank robbery, Lewis had a camera attached to a Sedan, which had the back ripped out. The director and crew were in the car, and the crew member with the boom mic was on the roof. The dialogue between Dall and Cummins has an improvisatory feel to it. It is a fine example of what can be done by an imaginative director with limited resources. Lewis made a number of interesting films, but none better than Gun Crazy. He captured the dangers of a society in which guns are glamorised, and where they offer the option of a better life than people can achieve by trying to make an honest living. I wrote a longer appreciation of Gun Crazy on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/12/13/gun-crazy-1950/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/24/23

Full Review

ogn d

Peggy Cummins - nice ass! Supposedly noir, but more of a sappy romance/melodrama

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The greatest 01 hour: and 27 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

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Joseph H. Lewis

Director

Peggy Cummins

Annie Laurie Starr

John Dall

Bart Tare

Berry Kroeger

Packett

Morris Carnovsky

Judge Willoughby

Anabel Shaw

Ruby Tare Flagler

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Synopsis

When gun-obsessed pacifist Bart Tare (John Dall) witnesses expert shooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) demonstrate her firearm prowess at a carnival one night, it's love at first sight. Aimless Bart joins the traveling show and begins a romance with Annie, but her dangerously rebellious spirit soon gets them both fired. After eloping, the young lovers embark on an armed robbery spree, managing to elude the authorities until Annie insists on pulling one last job.

Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Screenwriter: MacKinlay Kantor, MacKinlay Kantor, Dalton Trumbo
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: King Brothers Productions
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 20, 1950, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 21, 2016
Runtime: 1h 27m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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