Johnny Guitar (1954): The Cult Operatic Western that Confused Audiences

I don't normally dip back into 1950s movies on Not Now in Theaters, but for the so-called "Beauty and the Beast of westerns," I was intrigued.

Johnny Guitar looks like a classic western, but it's unlike the ones you would think of.

A cult movie in its time, the film has a big fan in Martin Scorsese and was an influence on the filmmakers of the French New Wave.

The picture breaks the mold of the 1950s western by pitting two warring women against each other in a battle to the death over a perceived slight, jealousy, and just pure hatred.

But director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) truly sets this work apart with an overdramatic tone. Every line and all the performances are full of bravado, and as Scorsese says, there really isn't another movie quite like it.

Join me for this discussion of babbling man babies, McCarthyism as a metaphor, and whether or not the film can hold up with the limits of the old action ways.

Directed by Nicholas Ray.

Starring:
Joan Crawford
Sterling Hayden
Mercedes McCambridge
Scott Brady

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