Gun Crazy (1950) Review

 

Gun Crazy (1950)

Gun Crazy follows Burt and Annie, whose love of guns and each other brings them together to commit a string of robberies across the West Coast.

It’s very obvious that this was a retelling of or least inspired by the story of Bonnie and Clyde. And it’s set up well, having Burt (ironically) as a gun-loving pacifist, who finds true love in a gun-loving loose canon with high aspirations for what she wants in life, setting them on their life of crime. She likes the action and thrill it brings, while he’s only doing it because he must, in order to keep his marriage intact, causing a weird sort of friction at her willingness to kill. It’s cinematically set up in a way that has definitely gone on to inspire other works of art due to it’s long one takes, background action, and with it’s ominous final showdown. An overall excellent story by Dalton Trumbo and an even more impressive technological achievement for the film noir genre, using the villains as the heroes which was still pretty unheard of for the time.

It’s also beautifully acted, starring John Dall and Peggy Cummins as the two criminal lovers. Their on-screen chemistry is excellent and the riff off each other well, especially when put to task about their dangerous hobbies. It’s also interesting seeing their characters slow progression into vastly opposite ends of the spectrum, where Dall hates the violence it brings, whereas Cummins only is with him for superficial reasons surrounding their crimes and the money it brings.

Gun Crazy is a classic tragic love story of two people who are so opposite, yet so alike. The movie is a raw, fast paced ride that finds a poetry in it’s story and with it’s ending, having Burt, strongly against killing, kill the only person he’s ever truly loved in order to save his lifelong friends, with her thus killing him in the process, putting an end to their crime spree in a fittingly romantic way, going out together.

8.5/10