Gun Crazy (1950)

Directed by Joseph H. Lewis. Starring John Dall, Peggy Cummins, Anabel Shaw, Berry Kroeger, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young, Morris Carnovsky, Russ Tamblyn.

Former juvenile delinquent and “future NRA spokesman” Bart (Dall) hooks up with trick-shot sharpshooter Annie (Cummins), then they get their kicks going on a crime spree that (predictably) escalates beyond their control. Lewis’ dynamic and stylish direction carries the show; limited genre interests result in shallow psychology and predictable story beats. The leads were modeled after Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker (this film, in turn, proved influential on Arthur Penn when he made Bonnie and Clyde), and while Cummins bottles in enough of the dog-in-heat clowning for a reasonably effective and complex portrayal, Dall always was a tall glass of milk, and is hopelessly out of his element. Depicts an almost Reefer Madness-level perversity in the opening scenes that’s worthy of shameless yuks. Script credited to MacKinlay Kantor and Millard Kaufman, the latter being a front for blacklisted Dalton Trumbo. Also known as Deadly Is the Female; loosely formed the basis for 1992’s fellow lovers-on-the-lam flick Guncrazy.

66/100