Johnny Guitar (1954) - An Unconventional and Unsung Western 

Sat. Sept. 18 

Joan Crawford stars as a strong-willed, very unpopular, and superbly but androgynously dressed saloon keeper at odds with the local townsfolk for her association with some very unsavory characters and her support for a railroad that might disrupt the livelihood of nearby ranchers. She joins forces with a mysterious ex-lover, a moody guitar slinger played by Sterling Hayden, as mob mentality and guilt by association threatens to destroy everything she has built. 

Almost entirely rejected by American critics and audiences at the time of its release, Johnny Guitar has since been re-evaluated as a subtly subversive and boldly stylized western, filled with hatred, violence, sexual repression, and jealousy. Its supporters, able to see past its small scale, dense dialogue, and refusal to fall in line with genre cliches, include such luminaries of cinema as Martin Scorsese, Roger Ebert, and Jean-Luc Godard. Godard, who was an enthusiastic advocate upon the film’s release, described the film as, “a western that is dream-like, magical, unreal to a degree, delirious.” 

With praise like that, not to mention the fact that it is directed by Nicholas Ray, (Rebel Without a Cause) and its star is perhaps the most famous actress of the golden age of Hollywood, this is a woefully underseen film; one that, despite its belated critical success and support from prominent and popular filmmakers, has yet to find the wider audience it deserves. 

Don’t sleep on your chance to see this neglected classic, smoldering with sexual tension and seething anger – all in vibrant color on the big screen of our Senate Theater! 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6  

1hr 51min | Not Rated | Western | USA 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and The National Endowment for the Arts.