EdD5 This is probably the worst acted and worst scripted film I've ever seen rated this high. The dialogue is laughably bad and the acting is without exception execrable. Now, if people are saying this is so bad it's good, then I get it. If they're actually saying this has any subtlety or depth as a real drama, they're a bit cracked.

Charles Herold (cherold) Much of Gun Crazy is imaginatively, strikingly filmed. Yet I was never entirely pulled into the story. Thus I spent much of the movie pondering what held it back.There were issues from the beginning. The movie begins with an intriguing scene of a young boy stealing a gun. Then there's a static courtroom scene broken up by interesting flashbacks. This foreshadowed what was to come, a movie whose striking directing and cinematography were undercut by pacing issues and a momentum-killing episodic approach.Peggy Cummins is interesting as a psychopath who leads her lover into a life of crime. She has an animal quality about her, and moves well from a disturbing coldness to disturbing heat in the midst of violence.John Dall is an interesting actor but I feel his character needed a hint of instability the performance lacked. It's in the script, but Dall seems more suited to playing a town sheriff, and the part needs someone more *off* (along the lines of Tony Perkins).My overall sense was there was no clear vision for this film. What separates a good from a great B movie is often the sense that the director had something to say. Here it feels like the director just wanted to play around with stuff. Sometimes it's very striking, like the robbery shot from a car's back seat or the final scene in the fog, while other times it feels rather arbitrary or precious, like framing Dall in the steering wheel. It's an interesting movie, and generally worth seeing, but I can see why the director never graduated from B movies for all his obvious skill.

mark.waltz There's something erotic about femme fatale Peggy Cummins' obsession with guns in this superb film noir, the best low budget example of the genre since "Detour". Like that film's hard boiled female, Ann Savage, Cummins is an outstanding example of what makes film noir as hot and dangerous as a ticking time bomb. John Dall is this film's version of "Detour's" Tom Neal, a troubled young man manipulated by sex, and he's going to get the best lay of his life, probably at the expense of his life! Like Neal, he's in a situation from which there is no escape, and even if he knew of a way, Cummins would find a way to block his exit. A scene where they try to leave each other in separate cars is quite sexual in nature as they can't leave each other. The only thing this is missing in its obvious insinuations (of which many got past the sensors) is a shot of their car heading into a very tight tunnel.This film starts off with a sequence of Dall's past, showing him as a kid (Russ Tamblyn playing him as a 14 year old), breaking the window of a store and stealing a gun, then a sequence where even younger, he broke down in tears after killing a baby chicken. Going to reform school, he meets up with gun shark Cummins in the circus. Unlike her, though, he despises shooting live targets, and for her, the violent urges are both carnal and sexual. She's impish, immature but every inch aware of what she's got to give, and even more aware of what she can get out of it. They become a post war era Bonnie and Clyde, and we all know what happened to them.Shocking in its time for its frank look at the carnal nature of a female so young, it never looses steam, and Cummins and Dall are fabulous together. This is quintessential film noir, one of the very best. While it has its moments where the audience has the chance to catch its breath, it quickly regains steam and twists the audience into quiet frenzy as the film reaches its obvious conclusion. The script, photography, editing and direction all crisp and tight, and one where you may feel your own carnal urges coming out by at times hoping they get away with it all, that is until you come to your senses. The photography, in particular, is fascinating with the fog representing the darkness of their minds, the approaching dangers as their fate awaits, and a shocking conclusion that continues to be used in similar dark dramas of men manipulated by their lusts and the women whose devious natures lead them both into a one way ticket to damnation.

PimpinAinttEasy Dear Joseph.H.Lewis, you are a pretty good director. Gun Crazy begins with a boy getting caught after stealing a gun. The subsequent scene at the court house is riveting with multiple flashbacks as various characters vouch for the boy's basic good nature. This is narrated through flashbacks. A lot happens in the first 30 minutes itself including the boy coming out of jail as a grown up man (John Dall). But the shooting competition where he runs into the femme fatale (Peggy Cummins, who gets a terrific entry scene where she shoots into the screen) could have been shot and edited better. It was such a great idea where their mating dance happens during a shooting competition in which they are the competitors. The lack of interesting camera angles and discreet use of close ups makes the scene quite dull. What happened, Joseph? The hero's law abiding sister is used to show the contrast between the thrilling life of the protagonists and the mundane life of the housewife. Peggy Cummins is awesome as the materialistic femme fatale. The character's craziness really comes through in the final scenes of the film shot in a smoky swamp (probably a studio). The rather square looking John Dall might have been chosen as the male lead to emphasize Cummins' manipulative nature. The film had some great ideas. The story and the two main characters are fantastic. But I don't think you realized its true potential, Joseph. It certainly deserves a re-imagination with a better writer. I cannot believe it has not been remade. Best Regards, Pimpin. (7/10)