Johnny Guitar

Nowhere but in the Nicholas Ray-directed film "Johnny Guitar" have Joan Crawford fans seen the star like this: Swaggering around with a six-shooter strapped to her hip, talking tough and showing off her quick-draw.

Called a "feminist Western," this 1954 movie from lowbrow, low-budget studio Republic Pictures is an oddity in just about every respect. The action takes place at "Vienna's," a saloon in what looks like a remote area of Arizona. The proprietress of the joint -- Vienna (Crawford) -- literally has her back to the wall, as symbolized by the fact that the saloon is built into the rock of a hillside (and the natural rock forms the back wall of her establishment). Pressing her are the townsfolk, led by banker Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge) and big-shot cattle rancher McIvers (Ward Bond). At issue is Vienna's plan to make her saloon into a depot for the railroad, which is still under construction; the locals don't want the influx of "Easterners" that would arrive with the train service, so they demonize and harass Vienna.

A quartet of high-spirited silver miners are Vienna's only friends in the area. They are led by a fellow known as Dancin' Kid (Scott Brady), on whom the psychotic Emma has a crush (though an alternate interpretation is that Emma is in love with Vienna; in any case, she is certainly fixed on the film's only other woman). Ernest Borgnine appears among this motley little mob as an ill-tempered scrapper named Bart Lonergan. There's also a sickly fellow called Corey (Royal Dano) and a young fellow -- practically a boy -- called Turkey (Ben Cooper). The townsfolk have it in for the silver miners, too, because... well, who knows. (The commentary and interviews suggest that the point of their animosity is simply a metaphor for McCarthyism, and the film certainly has plenty of connections there, given that the screenwriter, Ben Maddow -- working under a pseudonym -- was on the Hollywood blacklist.)

Enter Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), also known as gunslinger Johnny Logan. He and Vienna were an item once, five years ago. (If translated to modern idiom, their backstory would read thus: She was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when he met her... Cue up the appropriate music, and you are halfway to a contemporary remake.) Thing is, they have never gotten over each other. Vienna has sent for Johnny because she needs his help, but -- strangely, given his profession -- she doesn't want him to actually rely on his skill set and kill anybody in her defense.

This tale of a pistol-packing damsel (though she'd never admit out loud to being in distress) is, one commentator on the extras notes, a "crazy Nicholas Ray fantasy." That's a tough characterization to argue with (especially once we hear the film's color scheme compared to that of Gus van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho"). Part Western, part melodrama, and part epic catfight, this is one film that really does stand out from the pack.

This Blu-ray edition of "Johnny Guitar" marks a new venture for Olive Films, as the purveyor of "independent, foreign, and classic films" inaugurates a line of "Signature" releases that include scholarly content and archival extras. This 4K restoration comes fully loaded, with five featurettes ("Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other," "Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?," "Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar,' " "Free Republic: Herbert J. Yates and the Story of Republic Picture," and "My Friend, the American Friend: Memories of Nicholas Ray"), plus an essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum ("Johnny Guitar The First Existential Western") and an introduction by an enthusiastic Martin Scorsese. Film critic Geoff Andrew appears as well, on an audio commentary track.

"Johnny Guitar" is unique, and deserving of the documentation it's given on this edition. Those who like Westerns, strong female characters, or Joan Crawford films (or all three) will find plenty to delight them here.

"Johnny Guitar"
Blu-ray
$29.99
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