Johnny Guitar
1963
Strong-willed saloon-casino owner Vienna squares off against her nemesis, the shrieking Emma Small, who wrongly blames Vienna for her brother's death. Read more
| Starring | Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden |
|---|---|
| Director | Nicholas Ray |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
loading...
Johnny Guitar
Strong-willed saloon-casino owner Vienna squares off against her nemesis, the shrieking Emma Small, who wrongly blames Vienna for her brother's death.
| Starring | Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden |
|---|---|
| Director | Nicholas Ray |
| Studio | UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 45 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Released | DVD: 18 Sep 2006 Production year: 1963 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (5)
View all -
Sergio Leone's monumental epic Once Upon A Time In The West ranks among the five or six all-time Western masterpieces. read more »
- LOVEFiLM
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Weird western, lacking in humour
Nicholas Ray directed in many genres and this is his only western. Made in 1954, not 1963, it has divided critical opinion and, after several viewings over the years I'm not quite sure what to make of it myself. Halliwell says it's a 'rum western' awarding only one star and Pauline Kael, the influential film critic of the New Yorker criticises its 'cockeyed feminism'. Yet it appears in some best films of all time lists with a five star rating. And even the facts of the plot seem to be in some dispute depending on which summary you read. As far as I can make out Vienna (Joan Crawford) runs a saloon with no customers. She expects them to arrive with the new railroad, currently under construction. Local cattle ranchers-led by the strange, angry Emma (Mercedes McCambridge)- oppose the railroad as they see it as a threat to the ranchers' way of life. Emma hates Vienna and is jealous of her. Vienna is involved with the Dancing Kid (Scott Brady) one of four silver prospectors mining at a secret location outside town. Emma loves the Dancing Kid, but she's too screwed up to show her feelings. Into this strange menage comes a man with an alias, Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden). He doesn't carry a gun, but a guitar, and he's been hired by Vienna as a saloon musician. It's immediately obvious to the Dancing Kid that Johnny Guitar is a rival for Vienna's affections. While Johnny Guitar uses mellow phrases to seem unthreatening, 'I'm a stranger here myself', he's clearly a tough guy. It's also clear that Johnny Guitar and Vienna have been lovers in the past. A murder during a stagecoach hold-up causes the ranchers to order Vienna, the Dancing Kid and his fellow miners out of town. Vienna refuses to leave, and Johnny Guitar decides to stay with her. Not that he does much and the two women are the main protaganists. They both control a number of men. Vienna has her pick of men, and has probably had many men in her past. In some scenes, Vienna dresses in men's clothing- including carrying a gun, and in other scenes, she wears a dress. Emma, on the other hand, dresses in drab colour, looks like a puritan zealot dressed in black which is also the dress code of her posse of ranchers when they set off after the miners. I don't want to reveal any more except to say that the stage is set for a showdown between the two women. Who will triumph? The dialogue is rich in meaning(s) and the movie is saturated with symbolism. At the same time, for me at least, it seemed to get bogged down in the symbolism and I craved the easier style and clear thematic line in the westerns of John Ford and Howard Hawks (which also have a sense of humour so lacking here). Not a film for every fan of the western then. Perhaps more for the followers of Freud and fans of Joan Crawford. I'm still not sure I know what was going on. See what you think.
-
Most recent members' review
View all -
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Weird western, lacking in humour
Nicholas Ray directed in many genres and this is his only western. Made in 1954, not 1963, it has divided critical opinion and, after several viewings over the years I'm not quite sure what to make of it myself. Halliwell says it's a 'rum western' awarding only one star and Pauline Kael, the influential film critic of the New Yorker criticises its 'cockeyed feminism'. Yet it appears in some best films of all time lists with a five star rating. And even the facts of the plot seem to be in some dispute depending on which summary you read. As far as I can make out Vienna (Joan Crawford) runs a saloon with no customers. She expects them to arrive with the new railroad, currently under construction. Local cattle ranchers-led by the strange, angry Emma (Mercedes McCambridge)- oppose the railroad as they see it as a threat to the ranchers' way of life. Emma hates Vienna and is jealous of her. Vienna is involved with the Dancing Kid (Scott Brady) one of four silver prospectors mining at a secret location outside town. Emma loves the Dancing Kid, but she's too screwed up to show her feelings. Into this strange menage comes a man with an alias, Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden). He doesn't carry a gun, but a guitar, and he's been hired by Vienna as a saloon musician. It's immediately obvious to the Dancing Kid that Johnny Guitar is a rival for Vienna's affections. While Johnny Guitar uses mellow phrases to seem unthreatening, 'I'm a stranger here myself', he's clearly a tough guy. It's also clear that Johnny Guitar and Vienna have been lovers in the past. A murder during a stagecoach hold-up causes the ranchers to order Vienna, the Dancing Kid and his fellow miners out of town. Vienna refuses to leave, and Johnny Guitar decides to stay with her. Not that he does much and the two women are the main protaganists. They both control a number of men. Vienna has her pick of men, and has probably had many men in her past. In some scenes, Vienna dresses in men's clothing- including carrying a gun, and in other scenes, she wears a dress. Emma, on the other hand, dresses in drab colour, looks like a puritan zealot dressed in black which is also the dress code of her posse of ranchers when they set off after the miners. I don't want to reveal any more except to say that the stage is set for a showdown between the two women. Who will triumph? The dialogue is rich in meaning(s) and the movie is saturated with symbolism. At the same time, for me at least, it seemed to get bogged down in the symbolism and I craved the easier style and clear thematic line in the westerns of John Ford and Howard Hawks (which also have a sense of humour so lacking here). Not a film for every fan of the western then. Perhaps more for the followers of Freud and fans of Joan Crawford. I'm still not sure I know what was going on. See what you think.
-
News and features
View all
Once Upon a Time in the West
- 21 Jul 2009
Nobody could make something out of nothing the way that Sergio Leone could. Just look at the first ten minutes of Once Upon a Time in the West: a fistful of tough hombres in ankle-length dusters are waiting for a train at a railway depot out in the middle of nowhere. Their faces are familiar yet strange: Woody Strode and Jack Elam are veteran Hollywood cowboys, with dozens of movies under their belts. But they have never been filmed like this before, gazed at so long or so longingly. Leone... Read more
-
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
Related user collection
Moviedrome (123)
98.8% from 18 members
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
-
-
- Johnny Guitar
- DVD: £3.93
Free Delivery - RRP £15.79 (you save: 75%)
Strong-willed saloon-casino owner Vienna squares off against her nemesis, the shrieking Emma Small, who wrongly blames Vienna for her brother's death.... -