(Joseph H. Lewis, USA, 1950, 86 minutes, b&w)
Joseph H. Lewis’ Gun Crazy (aka Deadly Is the Female) is both a classic film noir and a love story – albeit one of a strange, obsessive love in which the couple, John Dall and Peggy Cummins, go together like guns and ammo. Certainly no film ever mixed sex and sidearms with the reckless abandon of this cult thriller (which clearly influenced Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde) or made better use of an automobile (as J. Hoberman observed, “Gun Crazy was built for speed”).
The story (co-written by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo) follows the ill-fated romance between carnival sharpshooters Bart Tare (Dall) and Annie Laurie Starr (Cummins) as they abandon sideshow performance for the loot-and-shoot thrills of bankrobbing.
Cast: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Barry Kroeger, Anabel Shaw, Morris Carnovsky.
For more information, see:
Internet Movie Database entry for "Deadly Is the Female"
Wikipedia entry for "Gun Crazy"
Filmsite.com review (Tim Dirks)
"Gun Crazy" video clip (YouTube)