FILM · 1954 · USA
Johnny Guitar
- Directed by
- Nicholas Ray
- Runtime
- 110 min
- Studio
- Republic Pictures
23 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
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, 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…
Summary: TMDB
All facts (23)
- #001
In the scenes where horses grazed near a waterfall, the horses were fitted with blinkers. The animals were so afraid of the waterfall that they could not even approach it without wearing blinkers.
- #002
Joan Crawford insisted that her close-ups be shot only in the studio, where the lighting could be tightly controlled. No close-ups were filmed on location.
- #003
Peggy Lee wrote the lyrics to the theme song and sang it over the end title sequence.
- #004
During the shoot, every technician and actor had to choose sides in the war between the two stars, Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge. Nicholas Ray later said that this struggle between the actors served the film's success and contributed to its box office.
- #005
In her autobiography, Mercedes McCambridge wrote that she was doubled in the death scene by the dress-wearing stuntman Charles Wilcox. Sterling Hayden joked that he looked like a mother in a dress.
- #006
Sterling Hayden was an unusual choice for the lead role, since he could neither ride a horse nor play the guitar.
- #007
Robert Mitchum was considered for the role of Johnny Guitar, but RKO would not loan him out.
- #008
When this film was shot, Joan Crawford was 49 years old, while Sterling Hayden, her character's love interest, was 37 and Scott Brady was 29.
- #009
Joan Crawford, who bought the rights to the novel and sold them to Republic Pictures on the condition that she would star, initially wanted Claire Trevor to play the role of Emma, and she was jealous of the younger, more competitive Mercedes McCambridge.
- #010
Although Philip Yordan is credited as the film's screenwriter, his contribution to the script was actually written by the blacklisted Ben Maddow, whom Yordan fronted for and with whom he split the fee.
- #011
This film was designed for 3D viewing.
- #012
Joan Crawford wanted Paul Newman to play The Dancing Kid.
- #013
Various sources claim that Dennis Hopper appears in this film as an uncredited extra. Hopper, however, denied this in an interview.
- #014
The film was part of a package that included Roy Chanslor, a former journalist and screenwriter who wrote the script specifically for Joan Crawford. At the time, Republic was considered the most prestigious of the smaller studios, and Nicholas Ray's contract with them gave him great creative freedom despite the film's modest budget. One of the first things he did was hire Philip Yordan to completely rewrite the script. Yordan later said: "He collaborated with me on a dramatic level rather than an architectural one, creating spaces like a salon, working on the geometric relationships between places."
- #015
The title song, with music by Victor Young and lyrics and vocals by Peggy Lee, was played over the end titles and was specially commissioned with the aim of earning an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The song did not make the final list of five contenders for 1954, probably because the studio behind the film (Republic Pictures) did not employ enough Academy members who voted to secure its nomination.
- #016
Philip Yordan rewrote the story to give Joan Crawford a larger role in the film mainly as a favor to Nicholas Ray. A favor, because at a Hollywood party Ray had defended Yordan against a drunk Frank Lovejoy, who wanted to punch him in the face. Yordan also said that Ray behaved very strangely when Yordan pitched him a script: after Yordan stopped talking, Ray turned his back on the screenwriter and listened before a long silence.
- #017
The folk tune "Old Joe Clark" is played by Johnny Guitar for the dancers.
- #018
The film was written by blacklisted screenwriter Ben Maddow, whose career was seemingly ruined by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Maddow in fact continued to produce screenplays throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, usually marketing his scripts as written by Philip Yordan. Yordan served as a "front" for many blacklisted writers, including on projects in which he was not actually involved.
- #019
The bust in Vienna's room/office is a likeness of the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
- #020
This was Joan Crawford's first western since Montana Moon (1930).
- #021
The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
- #022
The Pecos River, which runs through New Mexico and Texas, was also used as a reference point by Warner Brothers' cartoon resident bad hombre Yosemite Sam.
- #023
Ward Bond would bring the same stern (but fair) authoritarian character to Wagon Train (1957).
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