Gun Crazy

Gun Crazy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph H. Lewis
Screenplay byDalton Trumbo
MacKinlay Kantor
Based on"Gun Crazy"
1940 story in The Saturday Evening Post
by MacKinlay Kantor
Produced byFrank King
Maurice King
StarringPeggy Cummins
John Dall
CinematographyRussell Harlan
Edited byHarry Gerstad
Music byVictor Young
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • January 20, 1950 (1950-01-20) (United States)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$400,000 (1949)

Gun Crazy (originally titled Deadly Is the Female) is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and produced by Frank and Maurice King. The screenplay by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (credited to the pseudonym of Millard Kaufman) and MacKinlay Kantor was based upon a short story written by Kantor that was published in 1940 in The Saturday Evening Post.

Gun Crazy is a rare example of a film that was retitled during its initial release cycle. It was titled Deadly Is the Female from the film's premiere in January 1950 until March 1950, when the King brothers changed the title to Gun Crazy to more accurately reflect the character of the film.

In 1998, Gun Crazy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".