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Gun Crazy (Deadly Is the Female) (1949)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 2,817

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Movie Info

The definitive Joseph H. Lewis-directed melodrama, Gun Crazy is the "Bonnie and Clyde" story retooled for the disillusioned postwar generation. John Dall plays a timorous, emotionally disturbed World War II veteran who has had a lifelong fixation with guns. He meets a kindred spirit in carnival sharpshooter Peggy Cummins, who is equally disturbed -- but a lot smarter, and hence a lot more dangerous. Beyond their physical attraction to one another, both Dall and Cummins are obsessed with

Jan 19, 1999

Cast

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (1) | DVD (10)

Fault is in the writing and direction, both staying on the surface and never getting underneath the characters.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One of the most distinguished works of art to emerge from the B movie swamp.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If you had to select a single film to justify the present enthusiasm for film noir and define its allure, few movies could compete with Gun Crazy.

May 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Parallax View | Comment
Parallax View

Some old pulpy noir thrillers aren't as pleasurable as the garish posters that advertised them, but this re-release gives us an example of the genre that's every bit as brash, lusty and stylish as you could wish it to be.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | Comment
Sunday Times (UK)

It's a superbly crafted film by a cult film-maker.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment
Observer [UK]

Darker and more subtly complex than you'd expect from a 1950s crime caper.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

Gun Crazy' is a magnificently enjoyable film, distinguished by Joseph H Lewis's restless, catch-all directorial style.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Gun Crazy is less an exposé than a hugely exciting crime thriller. And since he's as polite as he is intelligent, Lewis doesn't beat us about the head with his philosophies.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Admittedly, the script is vintage corn. But visually Gun Crazy is a rude, startling and suggestive pleasure.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK] | Comment
Times [UK]

this is a small but perfectly formed black-and-white masterpiece of flash and trash, unwholesome obsession and criminal daring.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment
Guardian [UK]

Nearly 20 years before the same themes powered Bonnie and Clyde, Lewis was on to the possibilities of "outsider" cinema, and his film is all the more subversive for its origins as raw pulp, unpoliced by the Hollywood system, and getting away with murder.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph

A major influence on both Bonnie and Clyde and the French New Wave (with Godard a particular admirer), it's a film that far transcends its low budget constraints.

February 27, 2009 Comment
Little White Lies

Extremely well made, this is one cult classic that justifies its reputation.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comment
Sky Movies

Like all great films noirs, this 1949 lovers-on-the-run thriller, directed by cultists' darling Joseph H. Lewis (The Big Combo), is lean, mean and delirious.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Financial Times | Comment
Financial Times

This modest-looking B-movie, first seen in 1949, has acquired a substantial following in the years since - justifiably.

February 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Independent | Comment
Independent

Seldom seen, but GREAT little film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. Cummins and Dahl are perfect as Bonnie and Clyde types.

March 8, 2008 Comment
Video-Reviewmaster.com

Classic film noir

August 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Classic Film and Television

One of the greatest of all films, this "B" movie classic has it all.

July 5, 2004 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Gun Crazy (Deadly Is the Female)

A solid noir that really focuses on gun ownership as a metaphor for masculinity. Focusing on Barton's upbringing, the gun is where he finds his male identity. We he eventually meets his love, he does it by winning a shooting contest. Clearly asserting his manliness. For the films femme fatale Annie, wielding the gun is

February 25, 2011
axadntpron
Reid Volk

Super Reviewer

The classic Bonnie and Clyde themed forties movie. It's not a well known cast, but they are really good in this movie. The film is exciting, dramatic, and romantic as well. I just love it.

September 5, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

    1. Bart Tare: We go together, Laurie. I don't know why. Maybe like guns and ammunition go together.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Gun Crazy (DE)
  • Gun Crazy (UK)
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