Johnny Guitar

 

Moviedrome Introduction

Two for the price of one - this is the first film that was screened twice in Moviedrome - once with an Alex Cox introduction and again with a Mark Cousins intro.

Film Details

Release Date: 1954

Director: Nicholas Ray

Stars:

Joan Crawford as Vienna

Sterling Hayden as Johnny Guitar

Mercedes McCambridge as Emma Small

Scott Brady as Dancin' Kid

Plot Summary:

In the dusty Arizona desert, an independent saloon owner named Vienna (Joan Crawford) battles prejudice and suspicion surrounding her establishment, "The Vienna." Frequented by outcasts and drifters, including the charming ex-gunslinger Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), her saloon becomes the target of the town's moral crusaders led by the venomous Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge).

Tension escalates when a stagecoach is robbed and someone ends up dead. Emma fuels the fire, painting Vienna and her patrons, especially Johnny, as accomplices. With a railroad on the horizon promising prosperity, the townsfolk see "The Vienna" as an obstacle to their clean-cut vision of the future.

Caught in the crossfire, Johnny's true identity as a notorious gunslinger, Johnny Logan, resurfaces. Old flames spark between him and Vienna, adding a layer of romantic complexity to the brewing storm. Meanwhile, the bank robbery's culprit, the charismatic outlaw Dancin' Kid, seeks refuge in Vienna's saloon, further solidifying the mob's suspicion.

As a posse forms, Vienna knows she must fight for her livelihood and reputation. The showdown becomes a battle of wills, with Vienna and Johnny confronting Emma's manipulative schemes and the town's blind hatred. Secrets are revealed, allegiances are tested, and bullets fly as Vienna struggles to prove her innocence and protect her life's work.

Personal History

You'll be unsurprised to know that a 1950s Western did not appear high on my list of film choices when discovering cinema.

Current Review

Second Western in a row from Moviedrome and we move from "Hippy" to "Melodramatic, Freudian with a McCarthy-ism subtext".

This is a much loved film (see the Youtube Introduction from Scorsese). It's not a straightforward Western, with much running (just) below the surface.

First we have gender switching. The women are in charge in this film. Crawford and McCambridge the strong characters in a film of weak men. They get the best lines. They get to have the final shootout. McCambridge, particularly chilling with her blood lust.

The also a not particularly hidden subplot of the McCarthy era communist witch hunt in Hollywood.  The lynch mob runs rampant, as Emma leads the villagers in an unjustified persecution of Vienna.

Don't cross McCambridge

The reason is a shared love interest in the Dancin' Kid - with Vienna proclaiming that Emma cannot admit her desire as it makes her feel like a woman.

The love twist go further - with the eponymous Johnny Guitar turning up, seemingly packing a weapon no more lethal than a guitar and some one liners. It soon becomes apparent that he is a former lover of Vienna, which sparks jealously in the Dancin' Kid and his team of heavies.  Which include the always superb Ernest Borgnine and a character less menacingly titled Turkey.

The script is superb - with some killer lines. I could fill the "Quotes" section. Acting does the script justice.

Some beautiful lighting and the director makes the use of the new "Truecolour", with some garish colours and outfits. 

Yellow on Red under a blue sky

Quirky Facts

• The best of the Quirks has to be the love triangle and age difference - working in the opposite way to the usual Hollywood Conventions.  Crawford was 49, Hayden 37 and Brady a youthful 29.  Certainly the Madonna of Western women.
• Doesn't appear as thought any of the cast got on. Hayden saying he wouldn't work with Crawford again for all the money in the world.  And he loves money.

Quotes

The film summed up by the line - ‘Never seen a woman who was more of a man. She thinks like one, acts like one, and sometimes makes me feel like I’m not.’ 

Other memorable lines....

Vienna: [Spoken to Johnny Guitar, with a certain scornful bitterness] A man can lie, steal... and even kill. But as long as he hangs on to his pride, he's still a man. All a woman has to do is slip - once. And she's a "tramp!" Must be a great comfort to you to be a man.


Johnny: How many men have you forgotten?
Vienna: As many women as you've remembered.


Vienna: Down there I sell whiskey and cards. All you can buy up these stairs is a bullet in the head. Now which do you want?

Johnny: There's nothin' like a good smoke and a cuppa' coffee. You know, some men got the craving for gold and silver. Others need lotsa' land, with herds of cattle. And then there's those that got the weakness for whiskey, and for women. When you boil it all down, what does a man really need? Just a smoke and a cup of coffee.

Sustenance

Lots of Whiskey consumed in the film, but again, Post Christmas moderation stopping me joining in.

I did have a good cuppa' coffee, to match the final quote.

Future Inspiration

No end of inspiration here - looking into Joan Crawford - an actress from the golden age of the Hollywood, with added alcoholism for interest. Natch, Mercedes McCambridge. Who went on to provide the voice for The Exorcist.

I do like the look of the book mentioned in the Moviedrome introduction, Gavin Lambert's the Slide Area.  Ry Cooder made an album inspired by the book - which makes for double inspiration.

Nicolas Ray also directed "Rebel without a cause". Which is due a re-watch.