Nicholas Ray’s mesmerisingly strange western takes the stock idea of ranchers trying to keep out newcomers and turns it into a heady allegorical fable about xenophobic persecution centred on the sexual rivalries of saloon owner Vienna (Joan Crawford) and repressed, vengeful and well-named harpy Emma Smalls (Mercedes McCambridge). It’s a splendid, elemental drama ripe for feminist, Freudian and Marxist interpretation.

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin’ Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna’s establishment is Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man’s death, Emma Small, Vienna’s rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna’s saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Reviews
"A cheap Western from Republic Pictures, yes. And also one of the boldest and most stylized films of its time, quirky, political, twisted." – Roger Ebert