Editing Gun Crazy (section)

==Production==
The screenplay was credited to Kantor and [[Millard Kaufman]]; however, Kaufman was a front for [[Hollywood Ten]] outcast [[Dalton Trumbo]], who considerably reworked the story into a doomed love affair.

The film was budgeted at $400,000, and principal photography took 30 days.<ref>{{cite news|last=Van Gelder|first=Lawrence|title=Joseph H. Lewis, 93, Director Who Turned B-Movies Into Art|work=The New York Times|date=September 13, 2000|accessdate=January 20, 2024|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/13/arts/joseph-h-lewis-93-director-who-turned-b-movies-into-art.html}}</ref>

The picture originally was slated to be released by [[Monogram Studios]]. However, [[King Brothers Productions]], the producers, chose [[United Artists]] as the distributor. ''Gun Crazy'' enjoyed wider exposure because it was a United Artists release.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The King Brothers originally announced they wanted [[Veronica Lake]] for the lead.<ref>{{Cite news|title=STUDIO BRIEFS|date=Apr 11, 1949|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B7}}</ref>

In an interview with [[Danny Peary]], director Joseph H. Lewis revealed his instructions to actors John Dall and Peggy Cummins: 
:I told John, "Your cock'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.<ref name="Peary">Peary, Danny. ''Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful'', Delta Books, 1981. pp. 120-121 {{ISBN|0-517-20185-2}}.</ref>

The bank heist sequence was shot entirely in one long take in [[Montrose, California]], with no one besides the principal actors and people inside the bank alerted to the operation.<ref name="Peary"/> This one-take shot includes the sequence of driving into town to the bank, distracting and then knocking out a patrolman, and making the get-away. This was done by simulating the interior of a sedan with a stretch Cadillac with room enough to mount the camera and a jockey's saddle for the cameraman on a greased two-by-twelve board in the back. Lewis kept the onscreen conversations fresh by having the actors improvise their dialogue.