Artist Johnny Guitar
Nicholas Ray’s florid Western has somehow never made it onto DVD, which remains baffling for several reasons: Ray (Rebel Without A Cause) is beloved among auteurists, and this film specifically has both a cult and a camp following; the basic premise was lifted whole for Sergio Leone’s masterpiece Once Upon A Time In The West; and it offers the strange spectacle of Joan Crawford, in all her grotesque splendor, teaming up with Sterling Hayden. Crawford stars as a saloon owner who wants to expand her empire once a railroad is built through town, but she gets resistance from the citizenry, particularly a moral scold (Mercedes McCambridge) consumed by jealousy. Their rivalry gives the film a uniquely feminist twist, because the men look weak by comparison; even the towering Hayden becomes a pussycat in Crawford’s arms. Freud scholars will have a ball.
Updated 10/28/2009
