Johnny Guitar (1954)

After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob.

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

Philip Yordan (screenplay), Roy Chanslor (based on novel by)

Stars:

Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Vienna has built a saloon outside of town, and she hopes to build her own town once the railroad is put through, but the townsfolk want her gone. When four men hold up a stagecoach and kill a man the town officials, led by Emma Small, come to the saloon to grab four of Vienna's friends, the Dancin' Kid and his men. Vienna stands strong against them, and is aided by the presence of an old acquaintance of hers, Johnny Guitar, who is not what he seems.

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Plot Keywords:

revisionist western | vendetta | shootout | rivalry | singer | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Johnny Guitar

Filming Locations:

Boynton Canyon, Sedona, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,604

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 104 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Trucolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was part of a package that included Roy Chanslor, a former journalist turned screenwriter, who wrote the screenplay especially for Joan Crawford. At the time, Republic was considered the most prestigious of the minor studios and Nicholas Ray's contract with them gave him a great deal of creative freedom despite the film's modest budget. One of the first things he did was hire Philip Yordan for a complete rewrite of the script. Yordan later said, "He collaborated with me less on the dramatic than the architectural level, creating settings like the saloon, working on the geometrical relationships between places."

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Goofs

After the bank robbery, Vienna and Johnny Guitar are riding along in a buggy drawn by a single horse. While the horse sounds like it is only trotting along, the scenery rushing past the buggy makes it appear the buggy is going at highway speed.

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Quotes

Emma: You all think she's some fine lady and that doing nothing makes you fine gentlemen. Well she ain't! And you're not!

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une vague nouvelle (1999)

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Soundtracks

Johnny Guitar
by Peggy Lee and Victor Young
Sung by Peggy Lee
Heard instrumentally over the opening credits and throughout the film
Played on the piano by Joan Crawford (dubbed)
Sung partially at the end by Peggy Lee

User Reviews

A Loopy Classic

The English language, as it was originally conceived, never included the words needed to describe "Johnny Guitar". Is is a perfect film? I think...well, shucks, for what it is, it just might be. Let me justify that claim. Sterling Hayden as the title Mr. Guitar is the perfect actor for the role. You know he's meaning to be taken seriously, but for some reason, you just quite can't. This film is a lot like him, that way. It can't be taken 100% seriously, and yet you can't just brush it off as a parody, satire or farce. It's in the third direction that stories take on, where epic characters and caricatures inhabit the same space, play off each other, and nobody quite knows how they all ended up together in the same script. It has to be seen to believed, but it will never be understood. Enjoy, and when you're done, please, explain it for the rest of us.