Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

Here’s something film lovers need to be reminded of in our Kill Bill, Resident Evil, The Brave One and dear lord..Charlie’s Angels movie-watching times: Tough babes have been gracing the big screen for a long time. Though fewer furious femmes (or rather, more obvious furious femmes) saw the light of celluloid in the earlier days of film than they do now, they were indeed around -- some with more grit, gusto and attitude than their modern kick-ass sisters.

Examples? Try curvy hand-to-hand combat killer Tura Satana in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! or karate-chopping Pam Grier in Coffy or beautiful crazy Tuesday Weld in Pretty Poison or tuff Babs Stanwyck in Forty Guns or Faye Dunaway’s iconic tommy-gun–wielding Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde. Even Bette Davis is something of a bad-ass in the spectacularly underrated Beyond the Forest in which she's an ace shot, knocking down an innocent little porcupine because, as she says: "porkies irritate me." But one of my favorites, a womanly wonder of big screen sexiness, came back in 1950 when the unforgettable Peggy Cummins shot her way through the classic film noir Gun Crazy.

With the more explanatory alternative title of Deadly Is the Female (Gun Crazy is a lot more hard edged and evocative, I think), Joseph H. Lewis’ seminal noir features a mild-mannered but gun-obsessed John Dall falling for ultimate bad girl Cummins after watching her sharpshooting skills at a local carnival. When you see this scene (which could also rank as one of the sexiest in cinema), you can’t blame his immediate infatuation. Clad in a cowgirl outfit, the mysterious blonde hits her targets, even, in the film’s most obviously erotic moment, between her legs. An ace shot himself, the lanky Dall challenges Cummins, and the two gun nuts fall swiftly in love, marry, and to their demise, go astray after the hotheaded babe convinces Dall to couple up on some robberies.

Though it certainly helps that the movie is so brilliantly filmed (that gritty back seat shot in the car after the robbery is stellar), is violently romantic, features nonstop action and, of course, loads of shooting, it's the presence of a female who, though toxic, asserts such authority, that's especially intriguing here. Beautiful femme fatale Cummins, whose affair with guns equals anger, sex and power, is a potent symbol of female frustration and eventual rage: you might not be able to beat a guy with your bare hands, but you sure as hell can fire off a round -- no muscles, no therapy, no self defense classes necessary. In this way, it makes more sense for a woman, and not a man, to feel enpowered by a gun. And at the risk of sounding like a typical turned-on man (which might sound strange coming from a woman -- but I often feel like a man or perhaps, want to be one), Gun Crazy oozes sex appeal. But not just from the kiss kiss, bang bang of guns, but guns in the hands of a troubled, possibly deranged woman. Cummins' character is complex and ultimately tragic but, oh...the crazy ones. I love a girl who goes out in a blaze of glory.

Comments

[Jeremy]

I just rewatched this film not too long ago, it is indeed one of the great film noirs. Do you know of any other films with Peggy Cummins you could recommend?

[Jonathan Lapper]

Thanks for this post. I personally am of the mindset that all stars of yesteryear (male or female) were tougher than the ones today. Maybe it's my belief that the times (depression, world wars) produced a tougher mettle. But seriously, I'd put Stanwyck, Cagney, Davis, Gable, Tracy, Harlow up against anyone today in a fair fight and expect them to come out on top.

And yes, GUN CRAZY is fantastic and too underseen and underappreciated as is BEYOND THE FOREST.

[matthew]

For some reason I see Glenn Close in among the heavy mettle faces you listed...eh maybe its just me scrapping for some toughies from this era of film.

[Editor A]

There's some similarity in your photo and the Peggy Cummins photo. Two dangerous, deadly blondes?!

-A big Gun Crazy fan

[erik hogstrom]

"Gun Crazy" is one of my favorite films. I watch it every two months or so. The one-shot scene from the backseat of the car fills we awe every single time.

[Toshi]

Let's not forget Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar!

[Katel]

1. Boxcar bertha- Barbera Hershy
2. Lady Snowblood- Meiko Kashima
3. Sudden Fear- Gloria Graham or Gloria Graham in general
4. Adrienne Barbeu- Escape from New York
5.Barberella- Jane Fonda

[Felix Vasquez Jr.]

Damn, thanks for the Meyer mention. "Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!" is one of my favorite tough girl flicks.

[Melissa]

This movie is fantastic. I rented it once from the library, and watched it twice in one weekend.