Gun Crazy (1949)
"You're the only thing that's real. The rest is a nightmare."
A boy obsessed with guns grows up and while seeing the carnival with old childhood friends, he meets a trick shooting woman. After outperforming her he gets a job in the carnival and falls for her, but after they're both fired they turn to crime rather than get honest jobs. As their spree continues things grow tense and they earn the wrath of the law, things become truly desperate and they make a nerve-wracked last stand.
Very Bonnie-and-Clyde, but damn if it isn't done incredibly well. I really love the beginning, the rainy night in town and the boy smashing the store window to steal the revolver. We actually get a pretty good look at Bart's life as he grows up, obsessed with firearms, until John Dall does a great portrayal of him as a young man newly home from the Army.
Peggy Cummins is both charming and chilling as Laurie. She's beautiful, talented, and affectionate, but the same as Dall has a need for guns, she has a crippling need for the high life, and her fears drive her to kill at times. Her panic-driven actions really worsen any number of situations and put the pair right where they don't want to be.
One thing both my dad and I liked were the driving long-shots, during the first big heist when they're in costume and then a later shot. Just such great camerawork (though I'm unsure if it's a very particularly skilled editor or if they really did the shots, but it looks beautiful either way).
Overall a great gem from the '40s, and glad I found it.
"You're the only thing that's real. The rest is a nightmare."
A boy obsessed with guns grows up and while seeing the carnival with old childhood friends, he meets a trick shooting woman. After outperforming her he gets a job in the carnival and falls for her, but after they're both fired they turn to crime rather than get honest jobs. As their spree continues things grow tense and they earn the wrath of the law, things become truly desperate and they make a nerve-wracked last stand.
Very Bonnie-and-Clyde, but damn if it isn't done incredibly well. I really love the beginning, the rainy night in town and the boy smashing the store window to steal the revolver. We actually get a pretty good look at Bart's life as he grows up, obsessed with firearms, until John Dall does a great portrayal of him as a young man newly home from the Army.
Peggy Cummins is both charming and chilling as Laurie. She's beautiful, talented, and affectionate, but the same as Dall has a need for guns, she has a crippling need for the high life, and her fears drive her to kill at times. Her panic-driven actions really worsen any number of situations and put the pair right where they don't want to be.
One thing both my dad and I liked were the driving long-shots, during the first big heist when they're in costume and then a later shot. Just such great camerawork (though I'm unsure if it's a very particularly skilled editor or if they really did the shots, but it looks beautiful either way).
Overall a great gem from the '40s, and glad I found it.
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