Johnny Guitar (1954)
Genre: Western
Duration: 110 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Nicholas Ray
Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden and Mercedes McCambridge
IMDb score:
7,6 (21.548)
Releasedate: 26 May 1954
Johnny Guitar plot
"Gun-Queen of the Arizona Frontier! And her kind of men!"
Vienna has had a saloon annex gambling palace built in a still remote area. Vienna knows that a railway will run past its premises in the near future and expects a lot of turnover. However, the nearby village does not want to know anything about her presence. Not even her friend The Dancin' Kid and his gang, who regularly visit Vienna's saloon. Fueled by the fanatic Emma Small, the village tries to put an end to Vienna's saloon. Vienna gets help from her old flame Johnny "Guitar" Logan, who doesn't want to use force.
Actors and actresses
Vienna
Emma Small
Johnny 'Guitar' Logan
Bart Lonergan
Old Tom
Dancin' Kid
John McIvers
Corey
Marshal Williams
Eddie
Reviews & comments
Dievegge
-
- 3190 messages
- 8261 votes
I want a guitar like that too. You can drive through a sandstorm unprotected without it getting damaged or even out of tune. When our hero also turns out to be Johnny Logan, I have a hard time taking this western seriously. Admittedly, they could not have known that his also guitar-playing namesake would later win the Eurovision Song Contest three times.
Strong points are the panoramic images, Peggy Lee's song, Joan Crawford's facial expression and the reversal of sexual roles.
Emma Small was a bit too stereotypically bad for me. The fight scenes don't tell me much either. When the posse chases Vienna and wants to lynch her, things get pretty compelling, but then the plot gets too routinely handled.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
-
- 31245 messages
- 5497 votes
A lovely western. 2 strong women who stand opposite each other, which is striking for both (old) Hollywood and for western as a genre. Admittedly, the men do want to move forward promptly, but still. Conservative America should be even more shocked if the hero does not carry a weapon, but a guitar. The hippie!! 
That (by American standards) rebellious approach makes the film just as captivating. It remains a western of course with the small village, the trigger-happy guys, horses and sunny landscapes. Yet it colors outside the lines, without forgetting to be a classic western. With all those characters, the editing and the dialogue that smoothly ping-pong stands out. Director Nicholas Ray showed that rebelliousness even more a year later with Rebel without a Cause.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
-
- 87655 messages
- 12963 votes
torment.
I am not a fan of the genre, on the other hand it is known as a "deviant" Western. Visually perhaps a bit, because there is already a brighter color in it. Or maybe it's because of the "strong" female roles, but those aren't things that immediately make it better for me.
More than with other Westerns, I had problems with the extremely serious nature of the film. Ridiculous dialogues and twisted faces, loud people shouting and difficult poses. Every effort is made to make it look as dramatic as possible, but the story is as flat as a dime. The effect is often hilarious, with Crawford as the negative outlier. It seems like a parody at times.
Visually not pretty either. Editing is broken, camera work is quite lazy and the use of color remains very ugly. The soundtrack is also an assault on the ears. With a boring plot and a playing time of almost 2 hours, a solid challenge. One that I don't want to undergo a second time.
0.5*
Translated from Dutch · View originalLatest News
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