Johnny Guitar (1954)
What really sets this apart from most other westerns of the time, is by having a strong bossy female protagonist against an equally strict, almost manic, female villain. The film is even spelling that out in the first few minutes. It is a little on the nose, but it makes it clear what the film wants to convey with its story. A story that comes from the well known conflicts of interests on the frontier that countless of westerns do. Here we have Vienna who has set up a gambling saloon in a remote town, knowing that the railroad will soon come to the territory and bring in thousands of people. The cattle owners are not pleased with that prospect and especially Emma is very determined to get her driven out of town.
This conflict doesn’t immediately go into the usual gunfights, but rather how Emma is utterly determined to find a “legal” reason for getting rid of Vienna. So much that the truth doesn’t matter anymore. Justice is also up for sale. She is utterly ruthless, but she doesn’t want to do the dirty deed herself.
The man who call himself Johnny Guitar is barely a main character, though an interesting one, and I wished the film would have chosen a title that more conveyed the conflict between the two woman. The title makes you think it is a whole other kind of film, which is a bit of ashame, because this is really unique in terms of 50s westerns.
Rating: 4