Screened as part of NZIFF 2016

Johnny Guitar 1954

Directed by Nicolas Ray

Nicholas Ray’s legendary 1954 Western put Joan Crawford in trousers with seething rival Mercedes McCambridge inciting mob violence. Riper, and more weirdly affecting than ever in this brilliant 4K Trucolor restoration.

USA In English
110 minutes DCP

Rent

Director

Screenplay

Philip Yordan. Based on the novel by Roy Chanslor

Photography

Harry Stradling

Editor

Richard L. Van Enger

Production designer

James Sullivan

Costume designer

Sheila O’Brien

Music

Victor Young

With

Joan Crawford (Vienna)
,
Sterling Hayden (Johnny ‘Guitar’ Logan)
,
Mercedes McCambridge (Emma Small)
,
Scott Brady (Dancin’ Kid)
,
Ward Bond (Jon McIvers)
,
Ben Cooper (Turkey Ralston)
,
Ernest Borgnine (Bart Lonergan)
,
John Carradine (Old Tom)
,
Royal Dano (Corey)
,
Frank Ferguson (Marshal Williams)
,
Paul Fix (Eddie)
,
Rhys Williams (Mr Andrews)
,
Ian MacDonald (Pete)

“‘Never seen a woman who was more of a man. She thinks like one, acts like one, and sometimes makes me feel like I’m not’… Sterling Hayden’s finger-picking interloper Johnny might get top billing, but the star of the show in every conceivable sense is Joan Crawford. She is Vienna, a gun-toting, trouser-wearing casino boss whose loose-living ways infuriate the local league of moral decency.

Vienna is a woman trapped between two equally unpredictable forces: the aforementioned townsfolk, whipped into a fury by Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge), a sexually frustrated, self-hating tomboy; and a gang of layabout toughs under the command of wannabe outlaw Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady). Thanks to Crawford’s cutting but compassionate performance, Johnny Guitar is unashamedly feminist. But Ray’s gleeful subversion of conservative western traditions doesn’t end there. This is a movie for all the outsiders, for anyone who’s ever been judged on their appearance, their outlook or the way they choose to live. That it’s also a rip-snorting yarn packed with shootouts, punch-ups, daring escapes and crackling dialogue simply confirms its masterpiece status.” — Tom Huddleston, Time Out