"How could anyone get hurt if we don't hurt them?"

I don't know what the American conversation about gun control sounded like, or if it even existed, in 1950, but I do know that no simple liberal partisan would ever make a movie this perverted and erotically charged - it's hard to make a political point when your characters are this internally twisted. Nevertheless it makes a fascinating study of two different relationships with firearms, she's the psycho you read about, who'd force-feed you bullets until you choked to death if she couldn't find a gun, while he's the socially awkward gun enthusiast who puts up with and enables her violence because on some sick level it turns him on. Each person thinks they can keep the other under control, but only one of them is right.

95

Gun Crazy is a horned-up, pulpy, razor-sharp Film Noir, and a clear influence on basically every 'couple falls in love and commits crime' film going forward, not to mention how distinct it is as a precursor for the French new-wave. This movie has it all: a long-take bank robbery scene from the perspective of the backseat of a car, flirting via dangerous carnival games, romantic longing, and the thrill of a chase as an extended euphemism for fucking. It's pure electricity, all the time. Joseph H. Lewis directs Gun Crazy to within an inch of its life, and master DP Russell Harlan is there to make every image and movement a memorable one. And anchoring it all is the couple of John Dall and Peggy Cummins, who both radiate a life-force meant for this movie. This is up there with Detour and Out of the Past as my personal favorite Film-Noir - packed with sensual energy and wicked ideas.

I wish I loved anything like these crazy kids love their guns

A fairly fun Bonnie and Clyde esque story!

Peggy Cummins carries this as John Dall is sort of an odd leading man. I never quite understood his appeal, but I love her as his feisty counterpart.

Not to spoil anything but the Hays code at the time never let criminals get away without paying for their actions. Because of this, I tend to watch these kinds of movies for their first two acts and it always ends up bothering me that they can never succeed in the end.

On location driving was also pretty radical and fun. There's a great long take of a robbery shot from the backseat of a car, with Peggy Cummins actually driving that took me by surprise. It's an interesting film!

. . .

Will be logging a bunch of Sundance movies today!! Stay tuned

"From the Saturday Evening Post story"

Passes the Bechdel Test. Meaning, Peggy Cummins shoots a cop named Bechdel in the face.

Gun Crazy is a poetic B-movie, filled with powerful images. The violence is a substitute for the erotic, as the central relationship becomes physical without contact. At times, Gun Crazy is ridiculous, but it's also beautiful. This is a story of a good man gone bad, but every step of that transition is pained and contradictory. Gun Crazy isn't polished, far from it, but once the central relationship and subsequent crime spree starts, it is a mesmerising low budget masterwork of fatalism.

Maybe the sexiest movie ever made. Cummins gives me a fever. I literally needed a cold shower after this thing.

Also, perhaps the first film to accurately portray the frustration of finding a good parking spot.

Something tells me these people like guns.

Something about this feels very different to other American movies of the period, more independent-like if you will. Maybe because I don’t recognize any of these faces, maybe it’s all those interesting angles, and what seemed like real locations. So many realistic driving shots without green screen, and that final setting made me think of Onibaba. Some of the acting and writing has room for improvement, but pretty interesting and entertaining.

Gun Crazy tells a Bonnie and Clyde story.
Stylish Film Noir meets Western elements.

Great camerawork, way ahead of its time.
Great pacing, the movie never drags.

Solid noir with style, and a cool one take bank robbery sequence. I adored every driving sequence, and the creative visual style throughout. The lovers on the run narrative is really well handled and I Like How manipulative the Femme fatale is in this. The actress does such a great job at really selling the seductiveness to the character, also love how the movie uses the violence to build and explore the characters, Bart is super interesting and seeing him slowly Being lost into a life of crime and heists is tragic and really fun.

Wow, the direction was good here! Gun Crazy was a really fun film noir that never dragged and was visually engaging throughout - notably the camera movement and use of static long takes.

Would recommend it highly for fans of the genre.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Directed with such energy I immediately sought out Joseph H Lewis' other works.

Okay so Terror in a Texas Town has an ill-conceived harpoon-gun finale.

But Gun Crazy's leads have blazing chemistry and Peggy Cummins as the femme fatale is breath-taking.

Verite-noir.

Good time! Definitely one of the more fun noirs. A great example of the femme fatale, but combined with a lot of really interesting psychology. This obviously heavily influenced Bonnie and Clyde, and while I think I might actually prefer this take on the 'new couple crime spree' story just a tad more, there are some really interesting parallels to be drawn, especially in terms of their interpretations of their protagonists' insecure masculinity. Erotic as hell, twisted as hell, good as hell.

"We go together, Annie. I don't know why. Maybe like guns and ammunition go together."

Thrilling and very fast paced!
Loved it!
A certain rewatch!

Violence always begets violence.

Ein Außenseiter, der sein Leben lang eine Obsession für Feuerwaffen hat, lernt eine Kunstschützin kennen, die ihn zu einem kriminellen Leben verleitet. 

Auf der einen Seite versteht man, warum er sich zu ihr hingezogen fühlt und eine Seelenverwandte in ihr sieht, auf der anderen Seite will man aber auch nur rufen: „Nimm die Beine in die Hand!“

Von Anfang an ist klar, dass sie kein guter Einfluss für ihn ist, seine innere Stimme und andere warnen ihn andauernd, aber er geht unbeirrt seinen Weg. 

Das alles ist  sicher eine Metapher dafür, seinen schlechten Eigenschaften nicht völlig nachzugeben sowie seine eigene Stimme nicht zu ignorieren und welchen Weg man damit einschlägt, funktioniert aber genauso gut formal als spannender Film Noir.

Pflichtprogramm für Freunde des Genres!

Interesting little b-movie crime thriller with John Dall and Peggy Cummins as the gun crazy couple Bart Tare and Annie Laurie Starr. Some great set pieces right from the off with 14 year old Bart (Russ Tamblyn, then known as Rusty) trying to steal a gun from a store, through Bart & Annie's first meeting at the sideshow, to a great one-take bank robbery scene, seen mostly from inside their car.
The story doesn't merit too close inspection and at points they seem to be making it up as they go along but this 'bad woman leads good man astray' story sizzles with sexual tension as it rushes inexorably towards their tragic end.