Rating: 
Summary: Still "Crazy" After All These Years
Review: One of the all-time great films noir and a bona fide cult classic, "Gun Crazy" is one of the handful of cinematic gems chosen for inclusion in the United States National Film Registry. The story revolves around a sexually repressed young man who has grown up obsessed with the power of guns; one fine day he meets up with a sexy blonde carnival sharpshooter and the rest, as they say, is history. Soon the two lovers are trapped in a vortex of greed, desire, violence, and murder which quickly proceeds to spin out of control before it finally ends viciously one dawn in a fog-shrouded swamp. A minor masterpiece featuring a smouldering performance by British actress Peggy Cummins (who, in 1947, had been replaced in the title role of Fox's "Forever Amber" due to her perceived lack of sex appeal) as the brutal femme fatale, and a career-defining one by former Oscar nominee John Dall (Best Supporting Actor 1945 for "The Corn Is Green") as her fresh-faced-but-deadly cohort. Tightly directed by Joseph H. Lewis, the film is enriched by Victor Young's moody score and Russell Harlan's exquisite black and white cinematography.
The Warner Brothers DVD release of this long-awaited film features an impeccable audio and video transfer that can truly be described as pristine. The disc includes a running commentary by author and film historian Glenn Erickson; none of the other usual amenities like the Original Theatrical Trailer or even production notes are included. Sure it would be nice to have a full complement of "extras", but their absence in no way compromises the excellence of the overall package. Very highly recommended and a definite "must own" for fans and cultists alike.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Little Gem !
Review: Over the years, I had seen the striking, lurid poster for "Gun Crazy" in various film books ( nicely rendered on the DVD cover ), but I had never actually seen the movie. Well, the movie knocked me out ! This has to be one of the greatest "B" movies of all time. It was also briefly titled "Deadly is the Female", very "film noirish" and appropriate. I will not reveal too many details about the plot--other reviewers have covered it extensively ( perhaps in some cases too extensively ). Bart Tare ( John Dall ) has had a passion for guns his whole life. At a carnival, he meets a sideshow sharpshooter from London, Annie Laurie Starr ( Peggy Cummins ). They are soon sharing not only a passion for guns, but an intense passion for each other ! Falling under the spell of this charismatic, young blonde--who craves excitement, action and the finer things in life--Bart is drawn into a cross-country crime spree that escalates from robbery to murder. As one of the best "femme fatale" types in film history, Peggy Cummins gives a rivetting performance. You can't take your eyes off her, as she fanatically plunges down a road from which there is no return, taking the man she loves with her. Her character steals money--Ms. Cummins steals the movie ! As Bart, John Dall is rather stoic and one-dimensional until later in the film, when he realizes the harm he is causing others, including those who were close friends. His performance really picks up in the later scenes. Incidentally, Bart as a youth is played by Russ Tamblyn, later to spark a number of movies with his dancing and acrobatic skills. The other "star" here is the Director, Joseph H. Lewis. His approach is refreshing and innovative. I particularly liked the scenes where you--the audience--are in the back seat of the getaway car during a heist. You cannot help but wonder how much later films like "Bonnie and Clyde", "Badlands" and "Natural Born Killers" were influenced by this low-budget masterpiece ?
I also liked the way that Lewis depicts the sexual overtones of his characters and situations, remembering that this film was first released in 1949. Concerning the picture quality of the DVD, I see that one reviewer had some problems with the image. Personally, I found the black and white picture to be crisp and clear, especially for a film now 55 years old. The optional comments of author/film buff, Glenn Erickson, are a very nice bonus. "Gun Crazy" provides further proof that, whether it's the 1940s or 2004, you don't need big budgets and "superstars" to make a memorable film. If you have a taut script, a talented director and even one terrific performance, you can come up with a winner. Thank you, Warner Bros !
Rating: 
Summary: CRAZY FOR THIS CLASSIC NOIR
Review: Sigmund Freud would have a field day with Bart Tare (John Dall), the gun crazy marksman who just can't live without always having a firearm in his possession. Feeling more than a little inadequate, shall we say, Bart soon teams up with Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins) a woman he meets at a carnival for who the moniker - girls gone wild - must have been invented. Basically, Laurie's pure poison, a sugar coated heartless killer consumed by her obsession to be rich. Naturally, the chemistry between these two ne'er-do-wells is immediate and deadly; Laurie's high life fueling both their rabid passions for each other and a life of crime. In "Gun Crazy" Bart is a pre-teen reprobate who, after a stint in reform school and the army, returns home without much concern or interest in anything other than a life of crime. It isn't that Bart goes looking for trouble - only that the excitement of getting into some is very compelling. The film is one of those cautionary tales that attempts to chart what happens to individuals to whom life does not follow the straight and narrow trajectory. Gun Crazy is a superb example of the must-see, raw B-flick. It sparkles with sordid raunchy performances that, quite frankly, are refreshing in light of the usual antiseptic film output one has come to expect from "the golden age" of Hollywood.
In keeping with Warner's current trend to not really do all that is required to completely remaster classic movies for DVD, this film is just average. The gray scale is nicely balanced with deep solid blacks but the whites are not very clean. There's a considerable amount of film grain and a lot of age related artifacts for a visual presentation that, while a considerable improvement over previously issued VHS tapes, is still below par for what might have been if more digital wizardry had been applied. The audio is mono but nicely balanced. The more intent listener will notice slight pops and some hiss but nothing that will distract. There's a fairly interesting audio commentary by Glenn Erickson that will most surely enhance your appreciation for this film. All in all, a good disc to add to your library of classic cinema.
Rating:
Summary: There are loves which murder !
Review: The love for the guns developed for Bart Tare will be the great gate which eventually will carry to hell . All a complex web of relationship and curious affinities he finds out in woman who seems his mirror image in female version . This weird fascination goes in crescendo , because is there any caprice you know which diminishes through the years ?
This captivating story began as a story in The Saturday Evening Post written by MacKinlay Cantor And since the tragic ending of these two desperate lovers keeps a discrete distance respect to Romeo and Juliet , so it is very difficult classify it just only as a film noir , It is a love story too , with all his nastiness and lack of poery but loaded of the sinister shadows of that age so close to the End of the WW2 . In this particular universe and isolated microcosmos each one of them tries to seek desperately the other half . The sense of loneliness and absence of emotional center become them in two errant satellites without future because they only live for the inmediat sensations ; the clear metaphor of a society without goals and hope, lliving just only for the present showing the triviality and the absurdity of their lives
Forgotten for many years by all but true film connoisseurs, Gun Crazy has been object of veneration and rendition since its rediscovering in 1967.
Watch the famous secene : the one camera shot bank holdup.This film was cleArly the inspiration for Artur Penn who filmed in 1967 Bonnie and Clyde.
Rating:
Summary: The Gun Crazy Bunch
Review: This movie is about a hopeless couple's lust: lust for guns, lust for each other, but most of all lust to make a family. Their names evoke the old west. Annie Laurie Starr is a sharpshooter, a cross between Annie Oakley and Belle Starr. She and Bart Tare, the weaker of the two, barely make one complete person. Bart grew up without parents, raised by his older sister. She did the best she could, but as a judge sentencing young Bart for stealing a gun tells her, she can't continue to raise her brother after she gets married. Starting her own family will be hard enough and that's her most important job. Again Bart misses out on a family and is sent to reform school. Gun-crazy Bart (who just got out of the army as a shooting instructor) meets his dreamgirl Laurie in a traveling sideshow conning rubes for money. When Bart joins the act he and Laurie are already committing fraud every night, so they're criminals even before they run away from the circus to start robbing banks and gas stations. They wear their cowboy costumes on their crime spree. Still kids, they're playing dress-up and playing house together. For their final score, they both get jobs in a meat-packing plant - - Bart a man's job driving a truck, and Laurie in the office where she's reprimanded for wearing slacks instead a skirt. Pants are easier to run and shoot in after stealing the money in the company safe, but they also show Laurie doesn't know her proper role. The insane irony is that it never occurs to Bart and Laurie that in setting up this robbery they've made a normal life together like people with regular jobs and real families. As the clock ticks down you want to scream at them to stop. But they don't see it. After the robbery, they go to another amusement park like kids who want one more ride. The most disturbing image in the film is when Bart and Laurie hide out in Bart's sister's house. Her children are there and when Bart and Laurie are ready to leave, Laurie picks up Bart's sister's baby to take with them on their escape. It's Laurie's last desperate attempt to make a family with Bart, but he takes the baby from her and puts it down. By now Bart realizes he and Laurie aren't like other people. But there's something in Bart you admire when he tells Laurie that he wouldn't have had it any other way. There's something in most of us that wants to be free like Bart and Laurie.
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