Johnny Guitar (1954)

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

Roy Chanslor (novel)
Philip Yordan (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 May 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Western

Tagline:

Gun-Queen of the Arizona Frontier ! . . . and her kind of men !!!

Plot:

Vienna has built a saloon oustide of town, and she hopes to build her own town once the railroad is put through...

Plot Keywords:

Allegory | Posse | Feminism | Shot In The Forehead | Arizona

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Vienna
Sterling Hayden	...	Johnny 'Guitar' Logan
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Emma Small
Scott Brady	...	Dancin' Kid
Ward Bond	...	John McIvers
Ben Cooper	...	Turkey Ralston
Ernest Borgnine	...	Bart Lonergan
John Carradine	...	Old Tom
Royal Dano	...	Corey
Frank Ferguson	...	Marshal Williams
Paul Fix	...	Eddie
Rhys Williams	...	Mr. Andrews
Ian MacDonald	...	Pete

Runtime:

110 min | West Germany:104 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Trucolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (nf) (original rating) | West Germany:12 (nf) (cut version) | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #15815) | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Crossing, Sedona, Arizona, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Trivia:

At one point in the movie Johnny says, "I'm a stranger here myself." This was Nicholas Ray's own personal motto, a recurring theme in his movies, and reportedly the working title for just about every movie he directed.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning of the film, when Johnny Guitar passes by the miners riding, his shadow is projected to his left side. In the next shot it is projected to his right side.

Quotes:

Johnny: [starting a song] Her name was Emma Smalls, Emma Smalls.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chinoise, La (1967)

Soundtrack:

Johnny Guitar

Color, Color, Everywhere!

This deservedly legendary western has to be seen to be believed. Directed by Nicholas Ray in blazing color, courtesy of Harry Stradling, Jr., it's western featuring the rivalry between two women, Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge, as they quarrel over two men, Sterling Hayden and Scott Brady, and shake things up in the Old West, Hollywood style, 1954. The film is for all practical purposes experimental. Ray is indulging himself in color, composition and space, nudging the viewer toward laughter at every twist and turn of its convoluted plot. As a purely visual exercise the film is a rousing success. Although Victor Young's music is nice, and the late Peggy Lee does a good job with the title tune, this one's better with the sound off. It is a movie to see, to experience, and very hard to discuss. Lord knows, I've tried. If you can make sense out of it, I'll buy you dinner. My best guess is that Ray was taking all the aspects of film that are traditionally ancillary and incidental, and putting them ahead of everything else. What I like most about Johnny Guitar is the way Joan Crawford's saloon is designed, the undergound cave, the waterfall, the cabin on top of the hill, the moments of intimacy and emotion as they occur in these places, and how the viewer is encouraged to suspend his disbelief of what the story is about and give into his emotions, as the characters give into theirs', and let the devil take the hindmost. Ray succeeded marvelously here, as there's nothing else quite like this one; and the movies in general as far as I'm concerned are still lagging behind it, by several decades.