Johnny Guitar has all the makings of a Western. It takes place in a desolate land in the days of horses and covered wagons and features a collection of characters who are all willing to kill the person next to them for spilling whiskey on their shirt. In reality, Johnny Guitar is a Western in name only. This 1950s technicolor Joan Crawford vehicle is full of so much sub-text with regard to the questioning of gender roles, as well as the melodramatic love story at the center, that most of the genre trappings seen throughout the film become in a way almost secondary.
In Johnny Guitar, hard-nosed saloon owner Vienna (Crawford) has just taken on a singer calling himself Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) to help improve business despite getting word that plans to build a train track nearby have been put into motion. Things take a dangerous turn when the equally tough Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), the town’s local treasurer, has accused Vienna of murdering her brother and is now seeking revenge. Making matters even more complicated is the revelation of Vienna and Johnny’s past romance.
The aspect which somewhat robbed the film of its credibility upon first release is the same reason it stands out today, which is the reversal of gender roles throughout it. This is a film, ostensibly a Western, with two female leads who are both so fascinating to watch since they’re essentially playing men’s roles. The now-legendary behind-the-scenes catfights between Crawford and McCambridge may be seen as movie trivia fodder, but actually make the overall experience all the more fascinating and alive. It’s easy to see why people would laugh at the scenes between the two women and not take it seriously given the era in that Johnny Guitar was made, which saw most women taking on the role of housewife in both movies and real life. Nowadays Johnny Guitar can be seen as bold and daring because of the way it presents women as not really women at all, but powerful figures in their own right who are not discriminated against because of their sex.
The reversal extends to the men of Johnny Guitar as well, with the main character’s masculinity being questioned simply because he chooses to carry a guitar instead of a gun. Meanwhile, the scene between Johnny and The Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady) is also worth noting for the reason that they have, in essence, taken on the female roles as both are in love with Vienna and resort to using words and threats to declare their animosity towards one another.
The exchanges between the film’s two alpha females so totally over-the-top and animated that to call it anything else but camp would be flat out lying. Adding to this is the overly melodramatic love story on hand here, which is played for all it’s worth, especially when Vienna declares to Johnny, “I searched for you in every man I met.” At the same time, such moments afford both characters the chance to be a “traditional” man and woman and show that what was once looked at as campy can now can be seen in a more serious light.
Lines originally viewed as over-the-top are now looked at as clever, such as, “Boys who play with guns have to be ready to die like men,” or “Doors are made to knock on.” Meanwhile certain shots, such as the image of Crawford at the piano, are so incredibly cinematic and bewitching in all their power and loveliness that it proves that Johnny Guitar was a film made with the utmost care and respect.
Vienna is totally a role that was tailor-made for Crawford. The character is strong, fiery, and cool, all of which perfectly suited her screen persona during this era and her overall strengths as an actress. For his part, Hayden plays it cool and relaxed, but brings forth powerful emotion when his character needs to. Like Crawford, McCambridge proves a true force as Emma, despite, or because of, her struggles with alcoholism at the time of filming.
It’s plain to see that Johnny Guitar was a studio film that was only originally intended to keep Crawford’s star going. Overall, it’s interesting to see how decades later Johnny Guitar has ended up being much more than that. Aside from the extremely telling ideology, the film should also be lauded for its perfect use of technicolor, which its makers take full advantage of. The film is breathtaking from the word go with colorful explosions and mountainside shots which enliven all the visual aspects of the film, from the landscapes to the costumes. If there’s one certainty regarding the conception of Johnny Guitar, it’s how surely no one counted on the film becoming a strong comment on women in the days of the old West nor on actresses in the 1950s.
The Package
Olive Films have loaded the Blu-Ray release of Johnny Guitar with nearly a half-dozen interesting documentaries celebrating the film and its participants, as well as an essay by esteemed critic Jonathan Rosenbaum and a vintage introduction from Martin Scorsese.
The Lowdown
Johnny Guitar continues to impress as both a lesson in the power of technicolor and in the re-writing of sexual politics in 1950s cinema.
Johnny Guitar is now available on Blu-ray from Olive Films.
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Johnny Guitar — [Blu-ray]
