Also known as
Deadly Is the Female
Lists
- ranked 55 in Paul Schrader's Film Canon
- ranked 707 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 771 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 918 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills Nominees
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of Leonard Maltin's 100 "Must See" Films of the 20th Century
- one of They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 250 Quintessential Noir Films (1940-1964)
Opinion is divided over whether Gun Crazy (née Deadly Is the Female née Gun Crazy) qualifies as a film noir, but it's great all the same.
Bart Tare (John Dall) is crazy for guns the way some boys are crazy for cars or sport or art, and it leads him to a relationship with the only woman he's ever met who can shoot as well as he can: Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy Cummins). Starr's appetite for thrills leads in turn to crime and, eventually, tragedy.
It's predictable, but the execution more than makes up for it. Cummins is perfectly dangerous as Starr and the camera-work is impressive, especially for a B-movie. A real classic, not to be missed.