Gun Crazy
| Gun Crazy | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joseph H. Lewis |
| Produced by |
Frank King Maurice King |
| Screenplay by |
Dalton Trumbo MacKinlay Kantor |
| Based on | "Gun Crazy" 1940 story in The Saturday Evening Post by MacKinlay Kantor |
| Starring |
Peggy Cummins John Dall |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Cinematography | Russell Harlan |
| Edited by | Harry Gerstad |
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Production
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Gun Crazy (also known as Deadly Is the Female) is a 1950 film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced by Frank King and Maurice King. The production features Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife.
The screenplay by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo—credited to Millard Kaufman because of the blacklist—and by MacKinlay Kantor was based upon a short story by Kantor published in 1940 in The Saturday Evening Post. In 1998, Gun Crazy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
At the age of 14, Bart Tare robs a hardware store and steals a gun. He is sent to reform school by a sympathetic Judge Willoughby (Morris Carnovsky), despite the testimony of his friends Dave and Clyde, his older sister Ruby and others that 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 he kills a young chick with a BB gun at age seven, is hesitant to harm anyone with guns even though he is a good shot with a pistol.
After reform school and a stint in the Army teaching marksmanship, Bart (John Dall) returns home. He, Dave (Nedrick Young) and Clyde (Harry Lewis) go to a traveling carnival in town. There, Bart challenges sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) to a shooting contest, and wins. She gets him a job with the carnival, and he becomes smitten with her. However, their attraction to each other inflames the jealousy of their boss, Packett (Berry Kroeger), who wants Laurie for himself. As Packett tries to force himself on her, Bart enters and shoots a mirror behind Packett. They both get fired, and leave together.
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Wikipedia