''Gun Crazy'' (also known as ''Deadly Is the Female'') is a 1950 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

starring

Peggy Cummins Peggy Cummins (born Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller; 18 December 1925 – 29 December 2017) was an Irish actress, born in Wales, who is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis's ''Gun Crazy'' (1950), playing a trigger-happy ''femme fa ...

and

John Dall John Dall (born John Dall Thompson; May 26, 1920 – January 15, 1971) was an American actor. Primarily a stage actor, he is best remembered today for two film roles: the cool-minded intellectual killer in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Rope'' (1948), and ...

in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced by Frank and Maurice King. The screenplay by

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

writer

Dalton Trumbo James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), ''Exodus'', ''Spartacus'' (both 1960), and ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) ...

(credited to Millard Kaufman because of the blacklist) and

MacKinlay Kantor MacKinlay Kantor (February 4, 1904 – October 11, 1977), born Benjamin McKinlay Kantor, was an American journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He wrote more than 30 novels, several set during the American Civil War, and was awarded th ...

was based upon a short story by Kantor published in 1940 in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. In 1998, ''Gun Crazy'' was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

Teenager Barton "Bart" Tare gets caught breaking a hardware store window to steal a gun. He is sent to

reform school A reform school was a penal institution, generally for teenagers mainly operating between 1830 and 1900. In the United Kingdom and its colonies reformatories commonly called reform schools were set up from 1854 onwards for youngsters who were ...

for four years despite the supportive testimony of his friends Dave and Clyde, his older sister Ruby and others. They claim he would never kill any living creature, even though he has had a fascination with guns even as a child. Flashbacks provide a portrait of Bart who, after killing a young chick with a BB gun at age seven, is hesitant to shoot at anything, even a mountain lion with a bounty on its head. However, he is a dead shot with a handgun. After reform school and a stint in the Army teaching marksmanship, Bart returns home. He, Dave, and Clyde go to a traveling carnival in town. Once there, Bart challenges sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr ("Laurie") to a contest and wins. She gets him a job with the carnival and he becomes smitten with her. Their mutual attraction inflames the jealousy of their boss, Packett, who wants her for himself. When Packett tries to force himself on her, Bart fires a warning shot within an inch of his nose. Packet fires the couple, who leave together. Before they marry, Laurie warns Bart that she is "bad, but will try to be good". They embark on a carefree honeymoon on Bart's savings. When the money runs out, she gives Bart a stark choice: she wants to obtain the good things in life, so he must join her in a career of crime or she will leave him. They hold up stores and gas stations, but the paltry take does not last long. While fleeing a police car Laurie tells Bart to shoot at the driver so they can escape, but he hesitates and becomes disoriented. Ultimately, he shoots the tire out and the car crashes. Later that day, at another robbery, Laurie intends to shoot and kill a grocer, but Bart stops her in time. The couple have now been identified in national newspapers as notorious robbers. Bart says he is done with a life of crime. Laurie persuades him to take on one last big robbery so they can flee the country and live in peace and comfort. They get jobs at a meat processing plant and make detailed plans. When they hold up the payroll department, the office manager pulls the burglar alarm and Laurie shoots her dead. While fleeing the plant, Laurie also kills a security guard. Bart does not realize at the time that both victims are dead, but learns about it later from a newspaper. Laurie then discloses she shot a man dead in St. Louis while she and Packett were attempting a hold-up. She claims that these murders happened because her fear makes her unable to think straight in the moment. To minimize the chances of being caught, the two decide to split up for a couple of months, but neither can bear to be away from the other. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

is brought in, and the fugitives become the targets of an intense manhunt. In California, Bart arranges for passage to Mexico, when the FBI finds them in a dance hall. Forced to run, they leave all their loot behind. With roadblocks everywhere, they jump on a train and get off near Ruby's house. Clyde, then the local sheriff, notices that the house has the curtains drawn and the children are not in school. He informs Dave, and the two plead with Bart to give himself and Laurie up. Instead, the couple flee into the mountains. Pursued by police dogs, they are surrounded in

reed grass Reedgrass may refer to: * Alpine reedgrass (''Calamagrostis purpurascens'') * Bluejoint reedgrass (''Calamagrostis canadensis'') * Bolander's reedgrass (''Calamagrostis bolanderi'') * Fire reedgrass (''Calamagrostis koelerioides'') * Leafy reedgra ...

the next morning. In dense fog, Dave and Clyde approach to try to reason with them. As soon as Bart sees Laurie preparing to gun them down, he shoots her and is, in turn, killed by the police.

Cast

as Annie Laurie Starr *

as Barton "Bart" Tare * Berry Kroeger as Packett * Morris Carnovsky as Judge Willoughby *

Anabel Shaw Anabel Shaw (born Marjorie Henshaw; June 24, 1921 – April 16, 2010) was an American film actress. Active during the 1940s and 1950s in a mixture of lead and supporting roles, she then made a few appearances on television. Biography Shaw was ...

as Ruby Tare Flagler * Harry Lewis as Deputy Clyde Boston * Nedrick Young as Dave Allister *

Trevor Bardette Trevor Bardette (born Terva Gaston Hubbard; November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of '' Adventures of S ...

as Sheriff Boston, who apprehends the teenage Bart * Mickey Little as Bart Tare at age 7 * Russ Tamblyn as Bart Tare at age 14 (billed as Rusty Tamblyn) * Paul Frison as Clyde Boston at age 14 * David Bair as Dave Allister at age 7 * Stanley Prager as Bluey-Bluey * Virginia Farmer as Miss Wynn * Anne O'Neal as Miss Augustine Sifert (office manager shot dead by Laurie) * Frances Irvin as Danceland singer *

Robert Osterloh Robert Osterloh (May 31, 1918 – April 16, 2001) was an American actor. His career spanned 20 years, appearing in films such as ''The Dark Past'' (1948), ''The Wild One'' (1953), ''I Bury the Living'' (1958) and ''Young Dillinger'' (1965). Biog ...

as Hampton Policeman * Shimen Ruskin as Cab Driver * Harry Hayden as Mr. Mallenberg, the plant manager

Production

The screenplay was credited to Kantor and Millard Kaufman; however, Kaufman was a front for Hollywood Ten outcast

, who considerably reworked the story into a doomed love affair. The film was budgeted at $400,000, and principal photography took 30 days. The picture originally was slated to be released by

Monogram Studios Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in ...

. However,

King Brothers Productions King Brothers Productions was an American film production company, active from 1941 to the late 1960s. It was founded by the Kozinsky brothers, Frank (April 1, 1913 – February 12, 1989), Maurice (Maury; September 13, 1914 – September 2, 1977 ...

, the producers, chose

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

as the distributor. ''Gun Crazy'' enjoyed wider exposure because it was a United Artists release. The King Brothers originally announced they wanted Veronica Lake for the lead. In an interview with Danny Peary, director Joseph H. Lewis revealed his instructions to actors John Dall and Peggy Cummins: :I told John, "Your cock's never been so hard", and I told Peggy, "You're a female dog in heat, and you want him. But don't let him have it in a hurry. Keep him waiting." That's exactly how I talked to them and I turned them loose. I didn't have to give them more directions.Peary, Danny. ''Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful'', Delta Books, 1981. pp. 120-121 . The bank heist sequence was shot entirely in one long take in Montrose, California, with no one besides the principal actors and people inside the bank alerted to the operation. This one-take shot includes the sequence of driving into town to the bank, distracting and then knocking out a patrolman, and making the get-away. This was done by simulating the interior of a sedan with a stretch Cadillac with room enough to mount the camera and a jockey's saddle for the cameraman on a greased two-by-twelve board in the back. Lewis kept the onscreen conversations fresh by having the actors improvise their dialogue.

Reception

Critical response

The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

wrote: “Even with some adroit camouflaging, the Palace’s new picture...is pretty cheap stuff. ‘Gun Crazy’ just about covers it....this spurious concoction is basically on par with the most humdrum pulp fiction....In all fairness to Mr. Kantor’s idea, the actual script, which he wrote with Millard Kuafman, is a fairly literature business. Even if the young desperadoes aren’t motivated, apparently beyond Miss Cummins’ grim appreciation of money and her partner’s general restlessness, neither are they sentimentalized or offered as luckless tools of society. The dialogue is quite good and the photography is first-rate....The main drawbacks are the stars themselves, who look more like fugitives from a 4-H Club than from the law. Just why two such clean-cut youngsters...should be so cast is something for the Sphinx, but they certainly give it the works. Looking as fragile as a Dresden doll, Miss Cummins bites into her assignment like a shark. Mr. Dall’s pluck is just as admirable, even when he’s nervously begging his soulmate to make their next robbery ‘the lahst one’....we must say that it takes more than crime and the King Brothers to make sows’ ears out of silk purses.” In his 1998 book ''Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir'', critic and film historian Eddie Muller commends the production. "Joseph H. Lewis's direction", he notes, "is propulsive, possessed of a confident, vigorous simplicity that all the frantic editing and visual pyrotechnics of the filmmaking progeny never quite surpassed." Sam Adams, media critic for the ''

Philadelphia City Paper ''Philadelphia City Paper'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The independently owned paper was free and published every Thursday in print and daily online at citypaper.net. Staff reporters focused on labor issues, ...

'', wrote in 2008: "The codes of the time prevented Lewis from being explicit about the extent to which their fast-blooming romance is fueled by their mutual love of weaponry (Arthur Penn would rip off the covers in ''

Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...

'', which owes ''Gun Crazy'' a substantial debt), but when Cummins' six-gun dangles provocatively as she gasses up their jalopy, it's clear what really fills their collective tank." The review-aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 91% of film critics gave the production a positive rating, one based on 64 reviews.''Gun Crazy''
at

. Accessed: September 14, 2021.

Recognition

In 1998, ''Gun Crazy'' was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

References

External links

''Gun Crazy''
by Richard T. Jameson on the

website
''Gun Crazy''
essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 432-433 * * * *

at Film Site

at 10 Shades of Noir
''Gun Crazy''
title film clip at

Veoh Veoh () is an American video-sharing website, launched in March 2006. It was originally launched as a virtual television network application, and then became a video-sharing website in March 2006. During the mid-2000s, it was one of the largest ...

* (the bank heist scene) {{Authority control 1950 films 1950s American films 1950s crime thriller films 1950s English-language films American black-and-white films American crime thriller films American heist films Film noir Films based on American short stories Films based on works by MacKinlay Kantor Films directed by Joseph H. Lewis Films scored by Victor Young Films with screenplays by Dalton Trumbo United Artists films United States National Film Registry films Films about uxoricide