"Gun-Queen of the Arizona Frontier ! . . . and her kind of men!!!" This is Johnny Guitar. This 1954 American western drama film directed by Nicholas Ray, adapted by Philip Yordan, and based on the novel by Roy Chanslor. On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon - even without proof of her wrongdoing.
Despite its initial negative reception upon its release on 23 August, 1954, the film has since gone on to become a quintessential classic of the western genre, as well as American cinema. The film is included on Roger Ebert's Great Movies list, and 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Schneider. In 2008, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congressas being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Joan Crawford and Ray were scheduled to make a film called Lisbon at Paramount, but the script proved unacceptable. Crawford had bought the film rights to Chanslor's novel, which Chanslor, a former journalist turned screenwriter, had dedicated to her, and brought it to Republic Pictures and hired Ray to direct it. This was Ray's first project after leaving RKO Studios where he had been under contract for seven years. At the time, Republic was considered the most prestigious of the minor studios and 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. Although Yordan is credited as the screenwriter on the film, his contribution to the screenplay actually was written by the blacklisted Ben Maddow. Credit for the blacklist allegory seems to go mainly to Yordan, who substantially altered Chanslor's story, the theory that blacklisted writer Ben Maddow might have written it seems to be largely discredited. Robert Mitchum was considered for the title role, but RKO wouldn't loan him out. Ultimately, Sterling Hayden was cast. Hayden was an unusual choice for the title role since he didn't know how to ride a horse, play the guitar or shoot a gun. By most accounts, Hayden was always difficult to work with. Crawford, not the easiest person to work with, called Hayden "the biggest pill in Hollywood." Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Claire Trevor were among Crawford's top choices for the role of Emma Small, but were either too expensive or unavailable.
Ultimately, Ray brought in Mercedes McCambridge, and was cast. Principal photography commenced in October 1953, and wrapped in December. Most people claimed Crawford was easy to work with, always professional, generous, patient and kind. But issues between the two women cropped up early on, but Ray was not alarmed – at first. He found it "heaven sent" that they disliked each other and felt it added greatly to the dramatic conflict. However, Ray was quite unhappy during the filming and later admitted, "Quite a few times, I would have to stop the car and vomit before I got to work in the morning." Ray also said of that time, "Joan was drinking a lot and she liked to fight." Crawford and McCambridge fought both on and off camera. According to Penny Stallings' Flesh and Fantasy, the crew broke into spontaneous applause after one of McCambridge's powerhouse scenes, which infuriated star Crawford. According to Ray, he then began shooting the younger actress' scenes in the early morning before Crawford got there. After the star witnessed one of these early shoots she flew into a rage, broke into McCambridge's dressing room and scattered her costumes along an Arizona highway. Cast and crew had to collect the outfits. After filming, McCambridge and Hayden publicly declared their dislike of Crawford. Hayden said in an interview, "There is not enough money in Hollywood to lure me into making another picture with Joan Crawford. And I like money." McCambridge labeled Crawford, "a mean, tipsy, powerful, rotten-egg lady." McCambridge also blamed her next two years of inactivity on Crawford's repeated attempts to blacklist her. The reasons for the feud appear to date back to a time when Crawford had once dated McCambridge's husband, Fletcher Markle. According to some of the other co-stars, McCambridge needled Crawford about it. McCambridge also appears to have disliked that Crawford and Ray were in the midst of an affair. Crawford, on the other hand, disliked what she perceived to be "special attention" that Ray was giving to McCambridge. In addition, Crawford herself forced the issue of her own cross-dressed character by picking a well-publicised fight during the production with McCambridge. Crawford threatened to quit if Yordan didn't come out to Sedona to rewrite her part so that it would be bigger than Hayden's-even demanding a climactic shootout with McCambridge, with which Yordan obliged her.
The film stars Crawford, Hayden, McCambridge, Ernest Borgnine, John Carradine, Ward Bond, Ian MacDonald, and Scott Brady. The cast, especially Crawford, Hayden and McCambridge, gave powerful and profound performance that spoke volumes on man-woman and woman-woman relationships, as well as the bitterness that has manifested out of those relationships.
Here is a fairly exciting, suspenseful and provocative, if also occasionally far-fetched, melodrama of bitter romance. Johnny Guitar is violent, brutal and disturbing. It looks and sounds so good it makes your heart thump. Ray milks the western elements for all it's worth, and the shootout was staged surprisingly well by a director mainly known for his gritty dramas. It contains some extraordinarily good acting by Crawford, Hayden and McCambridge. Ray's direction is outstanding. A superb study of bitter romance that still retains its power despite the number of inferior rip-offs that followed in its wake. If not Nicholas Ray's greatest movie, then surely the rapturous culmination of his palpable desire to do a western.
Simon says Johnny Guitar receives:
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