Johnny Guitar (1954)
For January’s weekly director examinations we’re on week three with a loaded line up of Nicholas Ray Films spanning five years. Today it’s another standout western that stood out for being baffling to audiences when it initially released but history has grown kind to Ray’s 1954 film “JOHNNY GUITAR” for how unique it feels in any era. Joan Crawford owns the screen as Vienna, a hard nosed woman who just opened a casino saloon to nobody, but very soon the train tracks will be laid and she will live her life. She’s not the only woman in control. Her biggest rival is Mercedes McCambridge’s “Emma”…
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