Johnny Guitar
Encyclopedia
Johnny Guitar is a 1954 Republic Pictures
Western film
starring Joan Crawford
, Sterling Hayden
, Mercedes McCambridge
, and Scott Brady
.
The screenplay was based upon a novel by Roy Chanslor. Though credited to Philip Yordan
, he was merely a front for the actual screenwriter, blacklistee Ben Maddow
. The film was directed by Nicholas Ray
and produced by Herbert J. Yates.
This was the last feature film produced by Republic Pictures in its Trucolor
process. The film has been broadcast on American television, released in VHS and DVD formats, and adapted to musical theater.
In 2008, Johnny Guitar was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Vienna's ex-lover Johnny Guitar, a reformed gunslinger whose real name is Johnny Logan, arrives at the saloon, renews his love for Vienna, and offers her needed protection. Life is cozy for the two until The Dancin' Kid and his gang rob the town bank. The townsfolk suspect Vienna has played a part. Led by the vengeful Emma Small, a cattle rancher who has long hated Vienna, the posse descends on Vienna's saloon and burns it to the ground. Emma persuades the men to hang Vienna, but at the last second she is saved by Johnny Guitar.
Vienna and Johnny escape the posse and find refuge in The Dancin' Kid's secret hideaway. The posse tracks them. The Kid and his men are killed. Emma challenges Vienna to a showdown. Vienna is wounded in the duel, but she manages to kill Emma. A halt is called to the bloodbath by the posse's leader, McIvers. Vienna and Johnny depart, hopeful that better days lie ahead.
, Crawford fought but failed to have Claire Trevor
cast in the Emma Small role. After filming, McCambridge and Hayden publicly declared their dislike of Crawford, with McCambridge labeling Crawford, "a mean, tipsy, powerful, rotten-egg lady."
commented, "It proves [Crawford] should leave saddles and Levis to someone else and stick to city lights for a background. [The film] is only a fair piece of entertainment. [The scriptwriter] becomes so involved with character nuances and neuroses, all wrapped up in dialogue, that [the picture] never has a chance to rear up in the saddle...The people in the story never achieve much depth, this character shallowness being at odds with the pretentious attempt at analysis to which the script and direction devotes so much time."
The film is beloved of French critics and filmmakers, such as François Truffaut
, who described it as the "Beauty and the Beast
of Westerns, a Western dream". Truffaut was especially impressed by the film's extravagance: the bold colors, the poetry of the dialogue in certain scenes, and the theatricality which results in cowboys vanishing and dying "with the grace of ballerina
s".
Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar
pays homage to the film in his 1988 release, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
. His lead character Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura
), a voice artist, passes out while dubbing Vienna's voice in a scene where Johnny (voiced earlier by Pepa's ex-lover Iván) and she banter about their conflicted past. Almodovar's film also ends with a chase and an obsessed woman shooting at his lead character.
The Chicago Reader's Jonathan Rosenbaum
lists Johnny Guitar as one of the 100 best American films.
. The film is certainly more than just a Western
— Truffaut called it "a phony Western".
In an interview in the Criterion Collection version of The Killing
, Sterling Hayden
stated that he did not care for Johnny Guitar. "They put string, like you get at the grocery store, over my guitar in case I accidentally hit them," he said, acknowledging that "I can't play guitar, and can't sing a good-goddamn, either." "I was at war on that film, during the daytime, with Joan Crawford," he recalled, "and at night with my second wife." Despite his reservations about the film, Hayden acknowledged its popularity.
in 2004, with a book by American television producer Nicholas van Hoogstraten, lyrics by Joel Higgins
, and music by Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins
. It starred Ann Crumb
, Steve Blanchard
, and Robert Evan, and was the recipient of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, as well as a nominee for the Lucille Lortel Awards and the Drama Desk Awards. The musical adaptation favored a more "camp
" approach toward the material, which seemed to work in its favor, at least among the critics. The musical version is now being staged in regional theaters across the United States.
The title song, "Johnny Guitar," can be heard throughout the 2010 game Fallout: New Vegas
.
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
Western film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
, Mercedes McCambridge
Mercedes McCambridge
Carlotta Mercedes McCambridge was an American actress. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress."-Early life:...
, and Scott Brady
Scott Brady
Scott Brady was an American film and television actor.Born as Gerard Kenneth Tierney, he was the younger brother of fellow actor Lawrence Tierney. Brady served in the Navy during World War II, where he was a boxing champ...
.
The screenplay was based upon a novel by Roy Chanslor. Though credited to Philip Yordan
Philip Yordan
Philip Yordan was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who also produced several films.He was also known as a highly regarded script doctor...
, he was merely a front for the actual screenwriter, blacklistee Ben Maddow
Ben Maddow
Ben Maddow was a prolific screenwriter and documentarian from the 1930s through the 70s. Educated at Columbia University, Maddow began his career working within the American documentary movement in the 30s.In 1936 he co-founded the short-lived left-wing newsreel The World Today...
. The film was directed by Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
and produced by Herbert J. Yates.
This was the last feature film produced by Republic Pictures in its Trucolor
Trucolor
Trucolor was a process used and owned by Consolidated Film Industries division of Republic Pictures. Trucolor was originally a two-strip process based on the earlier work of William Van Doren Kelley's Prizma color process. It later became a three-color process.Republic used Trucolor mostly for its...
process. The film has been broadcast on American television, released in VHS and DVD formats, and adapted to musical theater.
In 2008, Johnny Guitar was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
On the outskirts of a wind-swept Arizona cattle town, an aggressive and strong-willed saloonkeeper named Vienna maintains a volatile relationship with the local cattlemen and townsfolk. Not only does she support the railroad being laid nearby (the cattlemen oppose it), but she permits a suspected stage robber called The Dancin' Kid to share her bed, and his confederates to frequent her saloon.Vienna's ex-lover Johnny Guitar, a reformed gunslinger whose real name is Johnny Logan, arrives at the saloon, renews his love for Vienna, and offers her needed protection. Life is cozy for the two until The Dancin' Kid and his gang rob the town bank. The townsfolk suspect Vienna has played a part. Led by the vengeful Emma Small, a cattle rancher who has long hated Vienna, the posse descends on Vienna's saloon and burns it to the ground. Emma persuades the men to hang Vienna, but at the last second she is saved by Johnny Guitar.
Vienna and Johnny escape the posse and find refuge in The Dancin' Kid's secret hideaway. The posse tracks them. The Kid and his men are killed. Emma challenges Vienna to a showdown. Vienna is wounded in the duel, but she manages to kill Emma. A halt is called to the bloodbath by the posse's leader, McIvers. Vienna and Johnny depart, hopeful that better days lie ahead.
Cast
- Joan CrawfordJoan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
as Vienna - Sterling HaydenSterling HaydenSterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
as Johnny Guitar (Johnny Logan) - Mercedes McCambridgeMercedes McCambridgeCarlotta Mercedes McCambridge was an American actress. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress."-Early life:...
as Emma Small - Scott BradyScott BradyScott Brady was an American film and television actor.Born as Gerard Kenneth Tierney, he was the younger brother of fellow actor Lawrence Tierney. Brady served in the Navy during World War II, where he was a boxing champ...
as The Dancin' Kid - Ward BondWard BondWardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
as John McIvers - Ben CooperBen CooperBen Cooper is a retired American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot award in 2005 for his work in westerns.-Early films:...
as Turkey Ralston - Ernest BorgnineErnest BorgnineErnest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
as Bart Lonergan - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as Old Tom - Royal DanoRoyal DanoRoyal Edward Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary Josephine , an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a printer for newspapers. He reportedly left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas...
as Corey - Frank FergusonFrank FergusonFrank Ferguson was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television. Perhaps his best known role was as the ranch handyman, Gus Broeberg, on the CBS television series, My Friend Flicka, based on a novel of the same name...
as Marshal Williams - Paul FixPaul FixPaul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
as Eddie - Rhys WilliamsRhys Williams (actor)Rhys Williams was a Welsh character actor in movies and television, whose career spanned several decades.He made his film debut in How Green Was My Valley . This movie takes place in rural Wales with a large cast of Welsh characters, but was actually filmed in Hollywood with Canadian, American,...
as Mr. Andrews - Ian MacDonaldIan MacDonaldIan MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
as Pete
Production notes
Jealous of a younger Mercedes McCambridgeMercedes McCambridge
Carlotta Mercedes McCambridge was an American actress. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress."-Early life:...
, Crawford fought but failed to have Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
cast in the Emma Small role. After filming, McCambridge and Hayden publicly declared their dislike of Crawford, with McCambridge labeling Crawford, "a mean, tipsy, powerful, rotten-egg lady."
Reception
VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
commented, "It proves [Crawford] should leave saddles and Levis to someone else and stick to city lights for a background. [The film] is only a fair piece of entertainment. [The scriptwriter] becomes so involved with character nuances and neuroses, all wrapped up in dialogue, that [the picture] never has a chance to rear up in the saddle...The people in the story never achieve much depth, this character shallowness being at odds with the pretentious attempt at analysis to which the script and direction devotes so much time."
The film is beloved of French critics and filmmakers, such as François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
, who described it as the "Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
of Westerns, a Western dream". Truffaut was especially impressed by the film's extravagance: the bold colors, the poetry of the dialogue in certain scenes, and the theatricality which results in cowboys vanishing and dying "with the grace of ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
s".
Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
pays homage to the film in his 1988 release, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas...
. His lead character Pepa Marcos (Carmen Maura
Carmen Maura
Carmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:...
), a voice artist, passes out while dubbing Vienna's voice in a scene where Johnny (voiced earlier by Pepa's ex-lover Iván) and she banter about their conflicted past. Almodovar's film also ends with a chase and an obsessed woman shooting at his lead character.
The Chicago Reader's Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
lists Johnny Guitar as one of the 100 best American films.
Commentary
Many critics have pointed out that the film is a hidden commentary on the McCarthy witch-huntsMcCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
. The film is certainly more than just a Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
— Truffaut called it "a phony Western".
In an interview in the Criterion Collection version of The Killing
The Killing
The Killing is a 1956 film noir produced by James B. Harris and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It was written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson and based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White...
, Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden
Sterling Hayden was an American actor and author. For most of his career as a leading man, he specialized in westerns and film noir, such as Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Later on he became noted as a character actor for such roles as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in Dr...
stated that he did not care for Johnny Guitar. "They put string, like you get at the grocery store, over my guitar in case I accidentally hit them," he said, acknowledging that "I can't play guitar, and can't sing a good-goddamn, either." "I was at war on that film, during the daytime, with Joan Crawford," he recalled, "and at night with my second wife." Despite his reservations about the film, Hayden acknowledged its popularity.
Adaptations
Johnny Guitar was adapted into a stage musical, which debuted Off-BroadwayOff-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 2004, with a book by American television producer Nicholas van Hoogstraten, lyrics by Joel Higgins
Joel Higgins
Joel Franklin Higgins is an American actors and singer with a stage career spanning over 30 years.- Life and Career :...
, and music by Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins
Joel Higgins
Joel Franklin Higgins is an American actors and singer with a stage career spanning over 30 years.- Life and Career :...
. It starred Ann Crumb
Ann Crumb
Ann Crumb is an American actress and singer.The daughter of composer George Crumb and sister of composer David Crumb, she made her Broadway debut in 1987 as a member of the original cast of Les Misérables...
, Steve Blanchard
Steve Blanchard
Steve Blanchard is a stage actor best known for his musical theatre roles, being most closely associated with the role of Beast in the musical Beauty and the Beast, which he played both on Broadway and on tour for eleven years...
, and Robert Evan, and was the recipient of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, as well as a nominee for the Lucille Lortel Awards and the Drama Desk Awards. The musical adaptation favored a more "camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
" approach toward the material, which seemed to work in its favor, at least among the critics. The musical version is now being staged in regional theaters across the United States.
In popular culture
The guitarist of the band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine had the stage nickname "Johnny Guitar".The title song, "Johnny Guitar," can be heard throughout the 2010 game Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas is a first person action role-playing video game in the Fallout series developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic environment in and around Las Vegas, Nevada...
.