Deadly Is the Female (1950)

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers (WGA):

MacKinlay Kantor (screenplay) and
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay) (front Millard Kaufman) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 January 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

SHE BELIEVES IN TWO THINGS...-love and violence! (original poster)

Plot:

Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival...

Plot Keywords:

Gun | Robbery | Love | Mountain | Carnival

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Peggy Cummins	...	Annie Laurie Starr
John Dall	...	Bart Tare
Berry Kroeger	...	Packett
Morris Carnovsky	...	Judge Willoughby
Anabel Shaw	...	Ruby Tare
Harry Lewis	...	Deputy Clyde Boston
Nedrick Young	...	Dave Allister
Trevor Bardette	...	Sheriff Boston
Mickey Little	...	Bart Tare (age 7)
Russ Tamblyn	...	Bart Tare (age 14) (as Rusty Tamblyn)
Paul Frison	...	Clyde Boston (age 14)
David Bair	...	Dave Allister (age 7) (as Dave Bair)
Stanley Prager	...	Bluey-Bluey
Virginia Farmer	...	Miss Wynn
Anne O'Neal	...	Miss Augustine Sifert
Frances Irwin	...	Danceland Singer
Robert Osterloh	...	Hampton Policeman
Shimen Ruskin	...	Cab Driver
Harry Hayden	...	Mr. Mallenberg
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Barr	...	Proprietor / Diner Cook (uncredited)
Don Beddoe	...	Man from Chicago (uncredited)
Joseph Crehan	...	Plant Foreman (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn	...	State Policeman on Phone (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Man Running Out of Robbed Market (uncredited)
Ross Elliott	...	Detective (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Cashier (uncredited)
Arthur Hecht	...	(uncredited)
George Lynn	...	Holdup Victim (uncredited)
William J. O'Brien	...	Customer at Sharpshooting Act (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	California Border Inspector (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	Meat Plant Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Joseph H. Lewis

Writing credits (WGA)
MacKinlay Kantor		(screenplay) and
Dalton Trumbo		(screenplay) front Millard Kaufman
MacKinlay Kantor		(story "Gun Crazy")
Millard Kaufman		(front for Dalton Trumbo)

Produced by
Frank King	....	producer
Maurice King	....	producer

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Russell Harlan		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harry W. Gerstad		(as Harry Gerstad)

Production Design by
Gordon Wiles

Set Decoration by
Raymond Boltz Jr.

Makeup Department
Carla Hadley	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Allen K. Wood	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Heath	....	assistant director (as Frank S. Heath)

Sound Department
Tom Lambert	....	sound engineer

Stunts
Dale Van Sickel	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lloyd Garnell	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Eddie Jones	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Harry Lewis	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norma Koch	....	wardrobe: Miss Cummins (as Norma)

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator
Stuart Frye	....	music editor
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Arthur Gardner	....	assistant to producers
Jack Herzberg	....	continuity
Herman King	....	technical advisor
Madeleine Robinson	....	dialogue coach
Al J. Jennings	....	technical consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• King Brothers Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Stern-Film Verleih (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Gun Crazy (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #14023) | West Germany:16 (nf) | UK:PG (2008) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Montrose, California, USA

Company:

King Brothers Productions

Trivia:

Spoiler: When Bart is reading about the deaths at the meat packing plant, he says that the security guard's name was William Bechtel. It is unclear as to whether or not this can be taken as a nod to comedian William Bechtel.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Cameraman, camera and tripod shadow visible when car cuts through canyon in final chase.

Quotes:

Bart: You were going to kill that man!
Annie Laurie Starr: Why not? He would have kill us, if given the chance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La sirène du Mississipi (1969)

Soundtrack:

Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)

Fine Precursor to "Bonnie and Clyde"

The original title of "Gun Crazy" was "Deadly Is the Female," and they ain't kidding. If you thought Faye Dunaway's Bonnie Parker was the more ruthless member of the crime duo that gave Arthur Penn's 1967 film its name, wait till you get a load of Peggy Cummins's Annie in this little known cheapie from 1949. I wouldn't want to get on this woman's bad side; she can shoot cigarettes out of people's mouths, for God's sake.

"Gun Crazy" is such an obvious influence on Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" that I can't believe the later film doesn't credit it directly. Though the 1949 film is based on a short story that appeared in the "Saturday Evening Post" and the 1967 film worked with an original screenplay, both films could have been adapted from the same source. They portray the Annie/Bonnie character as bored and restless, turned on by the thought of crime and by a manly man who can really use his "gun." The Bart/Clyde character is tickled by the idea of being a virile stud in the eyes of his lover, but is ultimately too sensitive for the life they choose. And both films do a good job of portraying the desperation that plagues both couples, the isolation and loneliness they create for themselves and can never break out of, and the ultimate futility of their actions, since the "law" is going to catch up with them sooner or later.

Peggy Cummins is really good in this. I don't know what else she's been in, but her baby-doll voice creates an effective contrast to her colder-than-ice attitude. She's crooning into her lover's ear one minute and itching to kill someone the next. And you have to dig those French-inspired fashions that would cause a sensation nearly 20 years later when Dunaway donned them again for Penn's film.

I thought John Dall was at first odd casting for the role of Bart. Annie is supposed to think of him as a man's man, and Dall, with his willowy physique and gentle mannerisms is far from that. But then when we realize that he's at heart really too gentle for the life he and Annie have chosen for themselves, his casting makes sense.

There are some small touches to this film that really add to its immediacy and realism. I loved the scenes of Annie and Bart driving to and from their heist jobs, shot from the back seat of the car as if we are a member of their gang. They have really funny and natural banter back and forth about where to park, etc. which I have to believe was improvised to some extent. The ending of the film, a face off in a creepy swamp, is eerie, and there's a small twist in the last seconds of the film that might be easy to miss but may give you some things to think about if you catch it.

It's interesting, and rather depressing, that one of the main themes of this film is the obsession with guns and violence that pervaded the country nearly 60 years ago, and here we are a handful of wars later, still dragging around the same old obsessions. Michael Moore's recent documentary "Bowling for Columbine" could have just as easily been called "Gun Crazy," if that title weren't already taken by this forgotten little blast of a movie.

Grade: A-