Gun Crazy (1949/50) (aka Deadly is the Female)

In director Joseph H. Lewis' supercharged, low-budget cult favorite - a noirish, love-on-the-run tale, based on MacKinlay Kantor's story, pre Bonnie and Clyde. It was a story about two sharpshooters who turned to a life of crime - a reckless couple fatally attracted to their firearms - and each other. It was one of the best B films ever made:

• in the opening scene (in the pouring rain), 14 year-old Bart Tare (Rusty Tamblyn) broke a hardware store display window to steal a pearl-handled gun and ammunition from inside, and then fell down in a mud puddle at the feet of the local Sheriff Boston (Trevor Bardette); in his troubled life, Bart was being raised by his older sister Ruby (Anabel Shaw). She claimed that although Bart was "gun-crazy," he had a strong aversion to killing things ("He wouldn't kill anything"); Bart was sent to reform school for four years because of his "dangerous mania" and then served in the Army

14 Year-Old Bart's Theft of Gun From Shop Window

• after serving in the military, gun-loving Bert Tare (John Dall) met blonde, trick sharp-shooter femme fatale Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins), portraying Annie Oakley in Packett's (Berry Kroeger) Wild West Carnival side-show - they were perfect companions
• during their William Tell-like challenge contest/duel between gun-fixated Bart Tare (John Dall as adult) and the markswoman, they first sized each other up like dogs in heat, and then each one shot at matches stuck in a crown worn on the other's head; Bart was immediately hired by the overly-possessive Packett to work in the show, although it didn't last long after Bart moved in on Packett's girl, and Bart discovered that Packett was blackmailing her about a murder in the past that she had committed during a robbery in St. Louis with him
• after being fired, the two wild, amoral lovers sought out a justice of the peace to get married, as Annie Laurie thought about how it might improve her life: "Bart, I've never been much good, at least up to now I haven't. You aren't getting any bargain....But I've got a funny feeling that I want to be good. I don't know, maybe I can't. But I'm gonna try...I'll try hard, Bart...I'll try"
• they experienced an idyllic honeymoon, but then following a sudden downturn after a visit to Las Vegas, they found themselves in an impoverished and financially-strapped state; in their drab, cheap hotel room, during a domestic squabble brewing between the couple, Annie Laurie (naked under her terry-cloth bathrobe) seductively tempted Bart to pursue more crime with her - and commit armed robbery; she told him: "I want to do a little living...Bart, I want things, a lot of things, big things. I don't want to be afraid of life or anything else. I want a guy with spirit and guts. A guy who can laugh at anything, who will do anything, a guy who can kick over the traces and win the world for me...You better kiss me goodbye, Bart (she dropped onto the bed and reclined back), because I won't be here when you get back. Come on, Bart, let's finish it the way we started it, on the level"; she threatened to walk out on Bart unless they both engaged in a life of crime; the blackmail scene ended with his sexual acquiescence and gratification, his decision to remain, and a close-up of his mouth inching towards hers for a passionate kiss

Blackmailing, Seductive Femme Fatale

• the kiss dissolved into the gunshot blast of a gumball bowl during a holdup at a Travelers Aid hotel desk - an orgasmic, erotic/violent beginning of their crime rampage as gun-toting 'wild animals'; she was able to get him to agree to more holdups - portrayed as a series of small stick-ups and robberies - a liquor store, another store clerk, and a gas station; Annie Laurie pretended to be a hitchhiker to hold up a kindly driver who picked her up - they then stole his car for their next major heist
• the next sequence was an unedited, virtuoso, single-shot uninterrupted (long take) robbery that occurred at a Hampton Bank (Illinois) - the two bank robbers were dressed in their Western showbiz cowboy-cowgirl outfits with guns; it was cleverly filmed from the back-seat of their robbery car (a stolen Cadillac); the scene extended from the time of their drive into town and up to the bank, including getaway driver Laurie's distraction of a cop (Robert Osterloh) on the sidewalk during the robbery; when Bart emerged with an alarm bell ringing, Laurie karate-chopped the policeman in the neck to knock him down and render him unconscious, and the two escaped with Bart driving - while the camera was still filming the long-take from behind their shoulders inside the car! Afterwards, she was excitedly in love with her bank-robbing partner: "I love you more than anything else in the world."

Uninterrupted Take During Hampton Bank Robbery

• their next robbery's getaway was at the Rangers and Growers Exchange; as they were pursued by a siren-screaming police car giving chase, Laurie insisted that Bart (in the back seat) shoot back: "Shoot. Why don't you shoot? Shoot! Shoot, do you hear me?" - unable to kill, he lied to her about eliminating their pursuer (he only shot out one of the car's tires), although a grin slowly widened across her mouth

Rangers & Growers Robbery	The Getaway
Bart's Reluctance to Shoot	A Smile on Annie Laurie's Face

• the two killers were identified by vengeful carnival owner Packett who reported that Annie Laurie and Bart were his former employees; a full-scale manhunt across state lines was undertaken by the authorities; Bart was beginning to feel regret for his criminal lifestyle with the cold-hearted killer Annie Laurie: "It's just that everything's going so fast. It's all in such high gear that sometimes it doesn't feel like me"; he thought he was living a nightmare, and asked to end their rampage: "Laurie, I'm not a killer. I don't want to be a killer. I don't like this kind of life. I've had enough"; he was compelled to agree with her request for "one more job"; according to her calculated plan, they could be rich for life and leave the country, but would first have to split for awhile so they wouldn't be recognized and caught - she promised: "Bart, we'll grow old together."
• for one last carefully-planned payroll office heist at the Armour Meat Company Plant in Albuquerque, NM where they both had taken jobs (with fake names), the robbery turned deadly when Annie Laurie was forced to shoot and kill her supervisor, office manager Miss Augustine Sifert (Anne O'Neal) when she activated a burglar alarm, and a company security guard during their flight; although their plan was to escape in separate cars, they were so exhilarated by their success that they decided to remain together; due to an intensive manhunt and dragnet and even involvement by the FBI, they were forced to flee to Southern California
• during their escape, Bart read in the newspapers that two people were killed during the Armour payroll heist, and was astounded by the news: "Why? Why did you do it? Why do you have to murder people? Why can't you let them live?" She responded: "Because I had to. Because I was afraid. Because they would've killed you. Because you're the only thing I've got in the whole world. Because I love you." Even though she proposed leaving him, Bart thought that was unlikely: "We go together, Laurie. I don't know why. Maybe like guns and ammunition go together"; the hunt for them tightened when their spending of twenty dollar bills in the area was traced back to the Armour plant

Dying Together in the Swamp

• returning to Bart's rural hometown in a freight car, the two were discovered in Ruby's house the next day and forced to flee again; they drove into the mountains, then fled on foot until they reached an impasse - a marshy and foggy swamp in the moonlight; they collapsed on the ground and slept until dawn when they heard ominous footsteps and the voices of Bart's boyhood pals Deputy Clyde (Harry Lewis) and Dave (Nedrick Young) announcing their approach in the fog
• in their last few moments of life and knowing that they were surrounded, Bart faithfully declared his love for Annie Laurie and gave her one final kiss; as the two came closer and Annie Laurie saw their figures in the fog, she vowed with an insane homicidal look on her face: "One more step and I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"; Bart was compelled to shoot his insane, aggressive lover as a mercy killing - the only murder he committed in the entire film, in an act that adopted her own violent modus operandi; by killing her partly out of love, he silenced her lethal ability to kill any further, and protected the lives of his friends
• mistakenly believing that Bart had fired on them, a barrage of police gunfire abruptly cut Bart down; with poetic justice, he fell next to her; their bodies lay united together - with Bart on his back and Annie Laurie on her side
• the film's sad theme song mournfully played one last time, as the two representatives of the law looked down at their fallen bodies in the heavenly shroud, and the camera pulled back and then up above their soggy, yet romantic grave; the final words of film dialogue were: Unidentified policeman: "You alright, Sheriff?" Clyde: "Yeah, yeah, we're alright"