TopBilled
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Posts posted by TopBilled
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FATE IS THE HUNTER (1964)
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THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT (1945)
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SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1964)
Next: lots of scenes involving a lynching
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1
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Patricia Owens
Next: R.R.
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KATIE DID IT (1951)
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THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948)
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YOUNG PEOPLE (1940)
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THE RAID (1954)
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HOMBRE (1967)
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MY DOG RUSTY (1948)
Next: Valley
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Ann Harding
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SEVENTH HEAVEN (1937)
Next: HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS (1947)
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Walter, Jessica
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Today's neglected film is from 1954. It has aired 21 times on TCM.
Nicholas Ray’s cult western is in a category by itself. Leading lady Joan Crawford is a force of nature, and you don’t want to mess with her. Imposing characters, towering sets and Trucolor photography are put in the hands of a master director. His cinematic goals are carried out by the main diva and a competent group of Republic Pictures stock players.
What’s interesting is how perfectly Crawford fits into the western mold. She hadn’t made a film in this genre since 1930, when in her early starlet days at MGM she was teamed with Johnny Mack Brown. But MONTANA MOON was more of a western musical– filmed mostly on the studio soundstage with very little outdoor realism. Johnny Mack Brown would later make a name for himself at Universal and Monogram, turning out a series of ‘B’ oaters…but Crawford’s career would remain in full swing for the next few decades; she did not have to make anything low budget.
She worked best in stories where she was playing strong women teamed alongside strong male costars. After 1952 she was freelancing, and probably because she now had more control over the types of scripts she could choose, her on-screen persona changed slightly. In films like SUDDEN FEAR, JOHNNY GUITAR and QUEEN BEE, she essays more complex females with overt touches of neuroticism. These traits would increase in the roles she played in the 1960s.
Because Crawford is still the star in these vehicles, she has to retain a fair amount of sympathy. Otherwise, the audience will not find her likable. This is especially true in JOHNNY GUITAR where she goes up against an entire town, led by Mercedes McCambridge and Ward Bond, who want her out.
We are meant to feel sorry for Vienna, the saloon owner she plays, because she only wants the chance to operate her legal business without interference. However, McCambridge and Bond organize other so-called respectable folks against her, and things lead to a standoff.
It doesn’t help that Crawford’s gotten tangled up with a criminal (Scott Brady) and his gang. Or that a man with a mysterious past (Sterling Hayden as the title strummer) is complicating matters for her.
Perhaps the best scenes in the movie are when Crawford and McCambridge go toe to toe, which some viewers feel is rife with homoerotic elements. I don’t know about all that, but I do know that I am rooting for Crawford in this picture, like I am supposed to root for her.
Crawford would not take another western role until 1970, when she appeared on the long-running Universal television series The Virginian. That time she was paired with James Drury and guest-star Michael Conrad. Again she played a somewhat troubled woman in the episode ‘Nightmare’ where she is involved in a series of murders.
Previously, Crawford had turned up on Route 66 where she was also a woman in the throes of neuroses. However, in all of these acting assignments, Crawford still manages to retain viewer sympathy, since the actual bad guy is usually someone else.
Back to JOHNNY GUITAR…the character of Vienna does manage to get a happy ending, after her business has been burned to the ground and she’s nearly hanged. The final shots show her embracing Sterling Hayden near a waterfall as Peggy Lee sings the title tune. For some reason, we can believe that she doesn’t need anything else…since she’s already seen and done it all.
Play the guitar, play it again, my Johnny
Maybe you’re cold but you’re so warm inside
I was always a fool for my Johnny
For the one they call Johnny Guitar
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Jeff Chandler
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A FINE MESS (1986)
Next: lots of screen time for Angela Lansbury
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June Allyson
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Barbara Stanwyck
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Angela Lansbury had a Summer Under the Stars tribute in 2006, 2009 and 2017.
And she was TCM's Star of the Month in 1994 and 2012.
Robert Osborne's Private Screenings with Angela Lansbury was produced in 2006. It hasn't aired on TCM since Lansbury was Star of the Month in 2012. So it would be nice if that aired again.
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99 RIVER STREET (1953)
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WATERWORLD (1995)
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JOHN GOLDFARB PLEASE COME HOME! (1965)
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THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (1940)
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BLOODHOUNDS OF BROADWAY (1952)
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A to Z of Characters
in Games and Trivia
Posted
Voltaire -- played by George Arliss in 1933 movie of the same name