Johnny Guitar
- Director: Nicholas Ray
- Writer: Roy Chanslor; Philip Yordan
CGiii Comment
There is much scholarly intellectualism surrounding this film...all that sexual tension and subtext...by the bucket load...
The script is leaden, lamentable and laughable.
The acting is wood.
The direction is bordering on the stilted, trespassing into slapstick and farce...
How the scholars howl...wake up and smell the cheap-brand coffee - this is junk.
The faux allegories of lesbianism and McCarthyism are an ineptitude to subtlety.
This is a clear cut case of reading more into nothing...
Jaw-droppingly bad...special mention must go to Mercedes McCambridge (who once won an Oscar)...her performance is a belligerent debacle...
A flippant fiasco from start to finish.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
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.
Cast & Characters
Joan Crawford as Vienna;
Sterling Hayden as Johnny 'Guitar' Logan;
Mercedes McCambridge as Emma Small;
Scott Brady as Dancin' Kid;
Ward Bond as John McIvers;
Ben Cooper as Turkey Ralston;
Ernest Borgnine as Bart Lonergan;
John Carradine as Old Tom;
Royal Dano as Corey;
Frank Ferguson as Marshal Williams;
Paul Fix as Eddie;
Rhys Williams as Mr. Andrews;
Ian MacDonald as Pete;
Trevor Bardette as Jenks;
Clem Harvey as Posseman