Guns Don't Kill People, Cowgirls Do

Gun Crazy (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950)

Went into Joseph H. Lewis's crime thriller largely oblivious to its prestigious film noir reputation. A status posthumously given long after its initial flop. Gun Crazy (AKA Deadly is the Female, 1950), a B-movie from gambling siblings turned film producers the King Brothers, would eventually be discovered by cinephiles as a subversive indie film that was ahead of its time. I honestly thought it was going to be more of an exploitation offering, along the lines of The Violent Years (1956), to be perfectly honest.

Preceding with the young, formative years of one Barton "Bart" Tare, Gun Crazy depicts various instances where the young lad has a more than keen obsession with guns. This unhealthy interest leads to him smashing the window of a gun store to steal a hand gun. Caught by the law, he's placed on trial. Both his sister and friends recollect moments where young Bart had an aversion for killing. From feeling repulsed with himself after shooting a chick with a bb gun, to refusing to kill a mountain lion caught in his sights at the behest of his friends. Nevertheless, the kid is sent to a reform school and subsequently joins the military teaching marksmanship.

Now an adult, Bart (John Dall) meets up with his old friends and they visit a travelling carnival. It's there where he meets trickshot cowgirl Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins). It's an instant attraction between the two. The sexual chemistry between the pair as they show off their gun skills, putting each other's lives at dangerous risk, is off the hook. For anyone with an above room temperature IQ, it's plainly obvious Annie is a nutcase and in the Danger Zone. Nevertheless, Bart briefly winds up working at the same carnival to be with Annie and to earn a dollar. It's there where the sideshow clown, Bluey Bluey, lays the most profound pearls of wisdom which go unnoticed by Bart:

Bluey Bluey: It's just that some guys are born smart about women and some guys are born dumb.

Bart Tare: Some guys are born clowns.

Bluey Bluey: You were born dumb. 

 

After the gun loving lovebirds quit the carnival life and get hitched, it's not long where Annie’s expensive tastes leave them hungry and broke. And thus, a series of robberies and heists turns the newlyweds into America's most wanted outlaws.

Adapted from MacKinlay Kantor's short story of the same name, the screen play would be given the script doctor treatment by the black listed communist Dalton Trumbo (credited as Millard Kaufman). Trumbo would turn Kantor's story into a Bonnie and Clyde style tale, laden with sexual symbolism and plenty of gun toting violence. What's also noteworthy about the film's writing is how it differentiates the two characters' codas despite their obvious love for firearms. Bart may be an expert crack shot, but is awkwardly uncomfortable in committing any potential harm to anyone throughout the story. Meanwhile, Annie lacks any real kind of moral compass to keep her head straight; killing anyone who might piss her off or obstruct her. Not only a femme fatale, but an actual psychopath. This obviously results in a destructive path for the pair. Utimately leading to a thrilling and surreal finale set around a misty swamp, which had me thinking the pair were in Heaven for a split second.

Other than its sexually suggestive content, which must have drawn some controversy for its time, what makes Gun Crazy so revolutionary are some of its innovative filming techniques. The most obvious being the incredible long take shot in the back seat of our protagonists' car, before and after a bank robbery. The scene was shot with a camera mounted on a horse saddle and moved on a greased plank of wood. A makeshift steady cam. The viewer becoming an unwitting accomplice to the off-screen robbery. This ingenious scene was a result of not having the budget nor the time to film inside a bank setting. A great example of the humble B-movie creating cinematic gold.

Perhaps an overly familiar crime saga seventy-five years later, but it did pave the way for other outlaw couples in film. Breathless (1960) by the French New Wave ponce Jean Luc Goddard is a notable example. Both films feature doomed love stories and film making innovations. I wonder if Peggy Cummins's beret was what sealed the deal for the overrated auteur. Jim McBride's superior 1983 remake would reference Gun Crazy by having its two lovebirds hide from the law inside a cinema screening the film noir.

Always feel compelled in rooting for the underdog in most films. In the case of Gun Crazy, it's not only applicable for its outlaw couple running from the law and their thrilling and tension filled heists, but it's also for its incredibly modern film making style. It definitely deserves its reputation for being ahead of its time. Therefore, Gun Crazy earns the Dada Debaser seal of approval.