Handgun (film)

Handgun is a 1983 British vigilante thriller, starring Karen Young, Clayton Day and Suzie Humphreys. It was written and directed by Tony Garnett.

Production

Garnett had recently moved to the US from the UK. He wanted to make a film about gun violence in the US. He got a development deal from The Ladd Company went to Dallas to research and write the film. He succeeded in raising the $3 million budget from EMI Films.[1][2] Garnett found Karen Young in London and the actors who played her parents in Boston. The rest of the cast were from Dallas. He used techniques he had developed in British drama, rehearsing and improvising with the actors for several month.[1] "I didn't come here to make pat judgements about American culture," said Garnett. "I came to try to understand."[3] Filming took place in the summer of 1981 in Dallas.[4]

Garnett says EMI were "hands off" until the final edit, but that changed once they saw the film. "The problem was that I had made a slow, thoughtful, and I hope considered character study, and they were expecting a commercial hit—an action movie with some sexy rape scenes. I hadn’t delivered. Some of the distributors were disappointed as they considered the rape scenes a turn off and not sexy! I had to cut elements from the film that I now regret."[1]

Release

Garnett sold the film to Warner Bros, which he now says he regrets. "They were producing a Clint Eastwood rape and revenge film. They didn’t want the competition so they bought mine, sat on it, and opened it in a few theatres before pulling the film. It was a failure." [1]

References
  1. "Interview with Cinema Retro". Cinema Retro. 2016.
  2. 'HANDGUN' TITLE COULD MISFIRE Mills, Nancy. Los Angeles Times 31 Oct 1982: s23.
  3. Point of a gun Bygrave, Mike. The Observer 08 May 1983: 32.
  4. Slow on the draw Tony Garnett tells. The Guardian 09 Dec 1982: 13.
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