Johnny Guitar

Francois Trauffat said that if you didn't like Nicholas Ray films then you should stop going to the cinema. Luckily for Francois he lived in France, where, as far as I know, half decent films actually get shown. In Odeon infested Britain if you enjoy Nicholas Ray films I wouldn’t bother going anywhere near a cinema. You’ll probably get a face full of High School Musical 3. Thank fuck then that everyone bought massive widescreen TV’s before the credit crunch hit. I mean, I love the ‘atmosphere’ of the cinema and all, but today I watched this in my pants whilst eating scrambled eggs and bacon. Which, let me assure you, is the good life.
Johnny Guitar is what a proper film critic might call an alt-Western, which is basically a western with less Clinteasterone. It features Joan Crawford as independent business woman and salon owner Vienna, who shares her profits with her employees and has, like, equality in her relationships with men. She’s basically a massive Communist and a Feminist to boot. All this bra burning ( she accidentally burns a flowing white ball gown and is forced to change into cowboy get up at one point) and socialism really gets on the tiny tits of puritanical super-bitch Emma (Mercedes McCambridge). Tension builds, mainly because Emma persuades a bunch of feckless men that lynching someone would be a good laugh, until we have the archetypal western shoot-out at the end. In between we get bank hold-ups, horse chases, sharp dialogue and bucket loads of sexual politics. It’s a pretty awesome, especially if you need to do an essay on ‘Feminism in Hollywood’ or some shit.

Jake Garriock

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