Noirvember Fatale Attractions: Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy/Deadly is the Female (1950) 💋

Some love stories burn slow; this one pulls the trigger. In Gun Crazy (1950), also known as Deadly Is the Female, Peggy Cummins plays Annie Laurie Starr, a carnival sharpshooter with a steady aim and a restless heart.  She meets ex-army man Bart Tare (John Dall), a gun-obsessed drifter who can’t stay away from trouble or her. Together, they become one of noir’s most dangerous duos.

 

 

When the money dries up, the lovers start slipping fast. Laurie tosses aside any idea of being “good” and decides she wants the kind of life only crime can buy. Bart turns to stickups, and Annie’s right there with him. holdups, carjackings, whatever keeps them ahead for one more night. And once they taste a few easy scores, they start chasing bigger ones. Bigger risks. Bigger fallout.

 

 

 

 

Directed by Joseph H. Lewis, the film is fast, raw, and way ahead of its time. The chemistry between Cummins and Dall is electric, two lost souls who mistake lust and adrenaline for love. They don’t just fall for each other; they fall into a world where every kiss could be the last one.

 

 

 “I told you I liked you. Maybe I like you so much I’ll kill you.”

 

That line says everything about Annie Laurie. She’s not the cold, calculated femme fatale; she’s the kind that runs on pure impulse. Cummins plays her like a live wire: playful one second, terrifying the next. You can’t look away because she doesn’t feel evil ... she feels alive.

 

 

Filmed on a shoestring budget and co-written by Dalton Trumbo (under a pseudonym because of the Hollywood blacklist), Gun Crazy broke the rules of its day. Its famous long-take robbery scene, shot from the backseat of a car, still feels thrilling and real. Critics later called it the bridge between classic noir and the modern outlaw film, a direct influence on Bonnie and Clyde.

 

 

Fun trivia: Peggy Cummins was only twenty-four, British-born, and almost too sweet-looking for the role, which made her performance even more shocking. She turned vulnerability into danger, creating a femme fatale who doesn’t plot destruction; she can’t help it.

 

 

 

Annie Laurie doesn’t just pull the trigger. She makes you believe you asked her to. She’s not chasing freedom...she’s chasing the next rush.

 

 

Fade to black… until the next Fatale Attraction.