Johnny Guitar
Dir: Nicholas Ray
1954
*****
Johnny Guitar is probably my favourite western of all time. It looks so beautiful thanks to brilliant vision of director Nicholas Ray and the performances are second to none, Joan Crawford giving one of the most captivating performances ever and Mercedes McCambridge being one of the most overlooked cinematic villains of all time. The story is so much more than the usual Westerns of the time, a popular genre that was almost done to death until a brief come back in the 70's and again much more recently. Johnny Guitar still remains one of the more memorable and original and is a bit of a cult classic. Next time you hear someone say they don't like westerns, point them in this direction.