Johnny Guitar
Directed by Nicholas Ray
Written by Philip Yordan from a novel by Roy Chanslor
1954/USA
Republic Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#292 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Johnny: There’s only two things in this world that a ‘real man’ needs: a cup of coffee and a good smoke.[/box]
Nick Ray strays into Sam Fuller territory with this gaudy, off-kilter Technicolor Western.
Vienna (Joan Crawford) owns a saloon in the middle of cattle country. The headstrong businesswoman’s plan is to wait for the railroad to pass through and then cash in on a new town. The ranchers have little use for the railroad or Vienna. But Vienna has a secret weapon in the form of the enigmatic Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden). The two apparently had a thing at one time but at first things are more platonic not least because Vienna has since had a thing with the Dancin’ Kid.
A stagecoach is robbed and a man is killed. Blame is pinned on the Dancin’ Kid’s gang. Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), the sister of the victim, insists that Vienna was also mixed up in this. She starts organizing a lynching party.
The Kid’s gang is evidently innocent of the stagecoach hold-up but decides the best way to get money to leave town is to rob the local bank. Vienna is in the bank at the time but her money is spared. All these things whip Emma into a state of righteous wrath and builds up to the climactic battle between the two women. With Ernest Borgnine as a gang member, Ward Bond as a town elder and John Carradine as a loyal drunk.
If for nothing else, this is worth seeing simply to watch Crawford and McCambridge try to outdo each other in the overacting department as each actress’s character vies to become Queen Bee of the territory. Otherwise, it’s enjoyable but nothing that makes me want to see it again.
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