Gun Crazy
aka Deadly Is the Female
Joseph H. Lewis, 1949, bw (7.6*)
This is a classic film noir about two marksmen who connect at a circus, where the alluring Peggy Cummins has an Annie Oakley style performance nightly. After the pair get together, the John Dall character wants to go straight, but Miss Starr has a yen for the fast life and spending more money than they have. The only solution is to become armed robbers, so the two go on a Bonnie and Clyde style crime spree. Often innovative directing by Lewis, there's a terrific atmospheric sequence in a fog-filled swamp, as the two are inevitably hunted by law enforcement en masse. Screenplay was really by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo. Even though the Dall character started with guns as a kid, he did not "shoot his eye out", lol..
#583 on our Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Internet compendium
