The 1949 thriller Gun Crazy is the first film which I will be spotlighting. It is loosely based upon the Bonnie and Clyde story; with amoral Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) leading infatuated Bart Tare (John Dall) into a life of crime. In fact, it’s initial title was Deadly is the Female; it was re-released as Gun Crazy and has been known by that moniker ever since.
This movie is one of the niftiest pieces of film noir melodrama that I have ever seen. It is strikingly directed by Joseph H. Lewis (a highly talented helmer with whom most viewers are unfamiliar; he also made My Name is Julia Ross and the Korean War film Retreat, Hell!). Full of thinly-veiled symbolism, stark photography and a trenchant script by Dalton Trumbo (though Millard Kaufman is credited due to Trumbo’s blacklisting), Gun Crazy is a surprisingly powerful movie.
Gun Crazy is most notable for its gender-switching. It is, literally, the beautiful, energetic, occasionally psychopathic female who wears the pants in the relationship, while her lover is naive, gentle and just a bit dull. Every time Bart gets nervous about their life of crime, Laurie seduces him and leads him further astray. “I want action,” she purrs, with multiple levels of meaning and innuendo.
Their initial meeting at the carnival, where Laurie works as a sharpshooter and Bart challenges her marksmanship, is a marvel of sexual tension. Their shooting contest is really foreplay, as they begin to explore each other’s daring and skill with firearms, even using each other for target practice.
A prologue goes to great lengths to depict Bart’s love of guns (as a boy, he even takes one to school!), but also insists that he lacks any killer instinct. It is the woman for whom guns represent freedom and power, particularly sexual power. Later, there is a robbery sequence filmed expressly from the back seat of their getaway car, which demonstrates Lewis’ directorial audacity, and indicates his observational, rather than judgmental, view of his protagonists.
Gun Crazy is a minor masterpiece of filmmaking, prevented from attaining classic status only by somewhat low production values, acting that is sometimes awkward or over-the-top, and a somewhat unsatisfying denouement. Even so, it is remarkable for its time. It is available on VHS and appears occasionally on satellite television channels. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ½. (4:4).