Dalton Trumbo's script wastes no time: boy who likes guns meets girl who likes guns. Mayhem ensues. A classic remarkable for many things, the absence of rear-screen projection in car scenes for one -- the actors do their own driving, the camera and cameraman crunched in the back seat. The dialogue in some scenes is improvised. The leads have an achingly convincing chemistry. Peggy Cummins is a doll-like psychotic beauty, John Dall is her sexy full-lipped love slave, but who otherwise is a decent all-American boy sort. A lot of yummy subtexts going on here. Dall's virile gay vibe had just been exploited by Hitchcock in ROPE; here his lithe frame spends a lot of time sewn tight in a buckskin sharpshooter's suit. Great photography, lighting, editing. Made in 1950 but feels quite modern. From Wikipedia: "In an interview with Danny Peary, director Joseph H. Lewis revealed his instructions to actors John Dall and Peggy Cummins:
I told John, "Your c***'s never been so hard", and I told Peggy, "You're a female dog in heat, and you want him. But don't let him have it in a hurry. Keep him waiting." That's exactly how I talked to them and I turned them loose. I didn't have to give them more directions."
I told John, "Your c***'s never been so hard", and I told Peggy, "You're a female dog in heat, and you want him. But don't let him have it in a hurry. Keep him waiting." That's exactly how I talked to them and I turned them loose. I didn't have to give them more directions."