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Gun Crazy (1949)
Director: Joseph H Lewis
Movie review
From Time Out London
While 1940s cinema was packed with devious dames, few can match Peggy Cummins’s hellcat sharpshooter Laurie Starr for sheer manipulative allure. Meeting Laurie at a small-town carny, clean-cut gun nut Bart (a perplexed John Dall) is transfixed by her charms and prowess with a pistol. The two cut a swathe through the Southern states, holding up banks and evading a tightening police dragnet.‘Gun Crazy’ is a magnificently enjoyable film, distinguished by Joseph H Lewis’s restless, catch-all directorial style; visually, the film ranges from classic gritty noir to hyperstylised modern gothic, to a startling single-take hold-up sequence shot on crowded streets. The filmmakers never miss a chance for a sly Freudian aside: from Bart’s little problem with guns (he can point, but he can’t shoot) to Laurie’s zealous lust for control, ‘Gun Crazy’ is awash with hysterical symbolism. A genuine treat.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2010, 26 Feb - 4 Mar, 2009
Cast & crew
Director: Joseph H Lewis
Producer: Maurice King, Frank King
Cast: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger, Morris Carnovsky, Annabel Shaw, Harry Lewis, Nedrick Young full cast
Genre(s): Film Noir
Duration: 87 mins
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