Peggy Cummins

(On Cable TV, August 2020) The history of a crazy couple on the run is longer than I first thought – never mind Natural Born Killers or Bonnie and Clyde when you can go all the way back to Gun Crazy to see more of the same (and I’m sure there are earlier examples). The first few minutes set an unpredictable tone, as an unusually gun-obsessed young man comes back from military service to find kinship in a carnival performer who is as good a sharpshooter as he is, but significantly crazier. As such couples are wont to do, they go on a criminal rampage, first robbing stores only to graduate to killing people when the heat closes in on them. The ending isn’t for those hoping for a happy ending, although it’s strikingly appropriate to the noir era. Peggy Cummins and John Dall are quite good in their roles, but in many ways it’s Dalton Trumbo’s script that hooks us in early with clever touches and never lets go until the end of their rampage. Director Joseph H. Lewis does justice to his narrative blueprint by keeping things moving at a quick pace, and adding just enough visual details to reinforce the rapid pace. Gun Crazy is, in short, a great example of a short and snappy classic crime film – not even 90 minutes, and over before you even get tired of its fast pace.