Gun Crazy was an independent production made without any big name stars, yet it fascinates me and I pull it out every now and then for a repeat viewing. The script when laid out blow by blow seems almost pedestrian - a Bonnie and Clyde story with no real surprises but without the Depression as a backdrop as a possible motivation for all of this mayhem.
Unlike Bonnie and Clyde, though, this story is set in booming post-war America. Bart is a guy who loves guns but cannot kill. He killed a chick once as a child and as a result of the overwhelming remorse he felt cannot even bring himself to shoot a menacing animal with a bounty on it years later. Bart has good friends, a sister who seems to be well grounded and has been taking care of Bart since their parents' death, yet he commits a crime to get a gun when he's about fourteen when he's got to know this seemingly impulsive act will mean he's caught almost immediately - he is. He's sent to reform school for the theft, goes into the Army for four years but does not see combat, and here it is the present - 1950 - and he's returned home for a visit.
So here Bart is an adult, he has good support from family and friends but he's still gun crazy and has the misfortune of running into sure shot Annie Laurie (Peggy Cummins), a little lady who has big dreams without the problem of a pesky conscience. So Bart's dilemma is that of so many in film noir - a bad set of coincidences coupled with a fundamental character flaw - he just can't say no to Annie Laurie. If he hadn't gone to the carnival that night and done trick shooting against Annie Laurie in a scene that sure looks like foreplay with guns, he probably would have gotten that job with Remington for forty bucks a week and been happy with that. But here he is, in the sexual clutches of a femme fatale who is "dead behind these eyes" - to quote another movie entirely.
Initially, Annie seems to pick Bart because he is a straight arrow, someone who genuinely cares for her, and right before they marry she even vows to "try to be good". Bart goes for Annie Laurie because he can't believe that a girl so pretty and so exciting seems to "get" him and actually wants an ordinary working stiff like himself - but isn't this how so many guys feel on their wedding day?
Ultimately their curse is their first impressions of each other were correct - Bart is basically a straight arrow, and Annie Laurie is exciting and craves a constant high level of excitement - and danger - in her life. So to keep Annie, Bart has to feed her with big wads of cash and even bigger wads of excitement that can only come from robbery, and with armed robbery there's always the chance of murder, and we all know what happens to murderers in the age of the production code.
This film is so visually interesting. One reason I think I like it so much is I like to look around in a scene and just not at the players. Also it has that great and powerful score going for it and Bart and Annie's song "Mad About You" which is so true of both of them but in very different ways. Plus you never get "inside" the characters to find out why they might have turned out this way. Why is Bart so weak? Why is Annie so bad? Remember, this may be 1950, but these two grew up in the Depression and who knows what they saw as kids. It's all left for you to fill in the blanks. Highly recommended.
Unlike Bonnie and Clyde, though, this story is set in booming post-war America. Bart is a guy who loves guns but cannot kill. He killed a chick once as a child and as a result of the overwhelming remorse he felt cannot even bring himself to shoot a menacing animal with a bounty on it years later. Bart has good friends, a sister who seems to be well grounded and has been taking care of Bart since their parents' death, yet he commits a crime to get a gun when he's about fourteen when he's got to know this seemingly impulsive act will mean he's caught almost immediately - he is. He's sent to reform school for the theft, goes into the Army for four years but does not see combat, and here it is the present - 1950 - and he's returned home for a visit.
So here Bart is an adult, he has good support from family and friends but he's still gun crazy and has the misfortune of running into sure shot Annie Laurie (Peggy Cummins), a little lady who has big dreams without the problem of a pesky conscience. So Bart's dilemma is that of so many in film noir - a bad set of coincidences coupled with a fundamental character flaw - he just can't say no to Annie Laurie. If he hadn't gone to the carnival that night and done trick shooting against Annie Laurie in a scene that sure looks like foreplay with guns, he probably would have gotten that job with Remington for forty bucks a week and been happy with that. But here he is, in the sexual clutches of a femme fatale who is "dead behind these eyes" - to quote another movie entirely.
Initially, Annie seems to pick Bart because he is a straight arrow, someone who genuinely cares for her, and right before they marry she even vows to "try to be good". Bart goes for Annie Laurie because he can't believe that a girl so pretty and so exciting seems to "get" him and actually wants an ordinary working stiff like himself - but isn't this how so many guys feel on their wedding day?
Ultimately their curse is their first impressions of each other were correct - Bart is basically a straight arrow, and Annie Laurie is exciting and craves a constant high level of excitement - and danger - in her life. So to keep Annie, Bart has to feed her with big wads of cash and even bigger wads of excitement that can only come from robbery, and with armed robbery there's always the chance of murder, and we all know what happens to murderers in the age of the production code.
This film is so visually interesting. One reason I think I like it so much is I like to look around in a scene and just not at the players. Also it has that great and powerful score going for it and Bart and Annie's song "Mad About You" which is so true of both of them but in very different ways. Plus you never get "inside" the characters to find out why they might have turned out this way. Why is Bart so weak? Why is Annie so bad? Remember, this may be 1950, but these two grew up in the Depression and who knows what they saw as kids. It's all left for you to fill in the blanks. Highly recommended.