Johnny Guitar [1953]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
"I've never seen a woman who was more like a man," a character observes of Vienna (Joan Crawford), who has just opened a saloon that hasn't exactly endeared itself to the local townspeople. Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), the local sexually repressed, lynch-happy harpy, is particularly displeased. Vienna is wooed both by the Dancin' Kid (Scott Brady) and by Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), a peripatetic tough guy-turned-troubadour with whom she has a past.

When the Kid's gang (which includes Ernest Borgnine) decides to knock over the bank before heading to California, Emma wants just about everyone in sight on the business end of a rope. Nicolas Ray's 1954 epic was considered one of the downright strangest Westerns of all time--the women were far tougher than the men (Johnny watches on laconically during the bank robbery, not bothering with heroics), and some saw in the film a bizarre allegory for the McCarthy Red scare. A half-century later, it's still a curious, intriguing piece of moral ambiguity from a time when such a thing ostensibly didn't exist. Hayden is an enigmatic presence, and Crawford's commanding star turn is what you'd expect. --David Kronke

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-08-08 rating:
Go Joan!
This DVD doesn't offer the best-looking print available, but it's still well worth a look. A great performance by Joan Crawford as a proto-feminist businesswoman in the wild west. Sterling Hayden, Mercedes Cambridge, Scott Brady, Ward Bond, Ernest Borgnine and Royal Dano are among the sterling supporting cast.

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review by: miguelmsantos date: 2006-04-18 rating:
A mesmerizing western
Certainly one of the most unusual westerns ever made, "Johnny Guitar" is a fascinating and mesmerizing film. Women take the central role, while men play second fiddle to them. It has a unique atmosphere of garish, fake colours and location settings. It is surely one of those films no one should ever miss. Brilliantly acted by Joan Crawford (my favourite performance of hers) and Mercedes McCambridge, playing respectively a saloon owner with an eye in the future and her fierce opponent.

The DVD looks gorgeous, with the film's fantastic range of colours highlighted by the print. As for extras there's only an introduction to the film by Martin Scorcese. It would be nice if there was something meatier. I strongly recommend it.



review by: date: 2006-04-09 rating:
Unique and Perverse
If Charlotte Bronte had written a Western, she might have turned out something like this lunatic wallow in repressed female sexuality. God knows what the original novel (by Ray Chanslor) is like, but the director lays on the Freudian imagery with a trowel: my favourite is Crawford's blood-red shirt into which she insanely changes while on the run from a lynch-mob. Of the men, only the squalid and asexual Ernest Borgnine has substance; the rest look bemused or mildly disgusted by proceedings. Mercedes McCambridge is a screeching harpy, a force of nature, mesmerising in her intensity. Crawford looks like she's come west as an escapee from the House of Usher. In her caked-on, clown-like make-up that defined her later period, she's a hideous and unforgettable matriarch.

The DVD transfer is superb. There's an enthusiatic introduction by Martin Scorsese, but no other extras. A full-blown psycho-analytic reading as a commentary might have been fun.

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Similar categories

Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Action & Adventure . Westerns
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Classics . War and Westerns
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . VHS
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . PG
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1950 - 1959
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English
Video . Video . Categories . Action & Adventure . Westerns
Video . Video . Categories . Classic Films . Actresses . Crawford, Joan
Video . Video . Categories . Classic Films . War Films & Westerns . 1950s
Video . Video . Refinements . Condition (condition-type)

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