Gavin Derek

My mom told me a story about my uncles Gavin and Derek arguing (hopefully just when they were kids), about which actor was better John Gavin or John Derek.  I have seen movies with both John Gavin and John Derek, and I have to say John Gavin is better. Also, John Derek has a mark against him because he was married to Bo Derek (and Linda Evans).

Gun Crazy

Readers of this blog have probably gathered that I adore movies, specifically movies made before the 1960s.  I do enjoy movies made after the 1960s, like the weird sub-genre I like to called 1970s paranoria films, but I often have an issue with both the strange horn-heavy scores used and the music cues.  My favorite movies are usually black and white and made in the 1940s and 1950s.  I think one the main reasons that I like those movies that because of the lack of color, the cinematography and shot composition is so much more interesting, especially compared to modern films.  I was thinking about this while watching the movie Gun Crazy.  It was a very solid B-movie, meaning no huge stars, however the cinematography and certain shots are amazing.  There is a scene with 3 characters with one character being in the foreground and two characters in the background that is staged in such a way that it would probably not be used in a modern film.  And then there is this scene:



The scene is shot in a one take, which a is a technique that I think has fallen out of favor in recent years with preference for many quick cuts (especially in action films).   But these are not the only reason that I think Gun Crazy overcomes its label as a B-film.  Both the story and the acting are top notch.  John Dall and Peggy Cummings are great and Dall does a fantastic job portraying the inner struggle of his character.  John Dall plays a sharpshooter named Bart who falls in love with a female trick shooter that is no good.  Much of the first 10 to 15 minutes of the film establish that Bart is a crack shot, but he refuse to kill anybody.  And as a result much of the movie, you spend wondering if Bart will cross that line and if so when.  I highly recommend the film, which thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can see the whole thing on youtube: