Deadly Is the Female (1950)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers (WGA):

MacKinlay Kantor (screenplay) and
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay) (front Millard Kaufman) ...

Release Date:

20 January 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance

Tagline:

Thrill crazy... Kill crazy...

Plot:

Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival...

Plot Keywords:

Gun | Robbery | Carnival | On The Run | Dominant Woman

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Peggy Cummins	...	Annie Laurie Starr
John Dall	...	Bart Tare
Berry Kroeger	...	Packett
Morris Carnovsky	...	Judge Willoughby
Anabel Shaw	...	Ruby Tare
Harry Lewis	...	Sheriff Clyde Boston
Nedrick Young	...	Dave Allister
Russ Tamblyn	...	Bart Tare (age 14) (as Rusty Tamblyn)

Also Known As:

Gun Crazy (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #14023) | West Germany:16 (nf) | UK:PG (2008) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Montrose, California, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

Bart Tare and Laurie Starr are modeled on the infamous Depression-era bandits Clyde Burrow and Bonnie Parker who are also the subject of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and You Only Live Once (1937).

Goofs:

Continuity: A shot from inside a sedan that Annie is driving shows a nameplate logo on the dashboard that says "Kaiser", but the only cars they are seen driving are the stolen Cadillac, a Packard convertible, a Chevy convertible, what appears to be an old Ford or Mercury convertible and a Ford sedan.

Quotes:

Annie Laurie Starr: Let's go for a walk on the beach.
Bart: I just read an article about funerals.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La sirène du Mississipi (1969)

Soundtrack:

Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)

Crazy bout this underrated gem

Sharpshooters Ben Tare and Annie Laurie Starr, fall in love at a carnival sideshow, marry soon after and hope for a peaceful married life. When the money runs out Annie tells Ben that using the guns for nefarious purposes will the only way for them to survive. While placid Ben agrees to the proposal, trigger happy Annie soon gets them deeper and deeper in trouble with the law following robbery after robbery, stickup after stickup, until it becomes kill or be killed. Very daring and overlooked film, rises above the status of the B movie genre to which this film is delegated to. Cummins is perfect as the gun-crazed, as well the love-hungry Annie. Great cinematography by Russell Harlan, shooting all of the bank holdups from the back seat of the couple's car, making the audience feel a part of the getaway. Rating, 9 of 10