Johnny Guitar 1954

Critics score:
97 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

John Petrakis, Chicago Tribune: One of those classic westerns that has maintained its status by reinventing itself every decade since its release in 1954. Read more

Bosley Crowther, New York Times: Let's put it down as a fiasco. Miss Crawford went thataway. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: For all its violence, this is a surpassingly tender, sensitive film, Ray's gentlest statement of his outsider theme. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The acidulous palette of the costumes and the decor conjure Ray's insolent, isolated fury; though the action is set in the nineteenth century, the actors break out of the story to foreshadow the stylishly electric revolutions to come. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Ray's film is not a romantic comedy, but a Western. Or is it? Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: It's not just Joan's campiness -- her line readings take on an almost incantatory quality -- but the way the whole thing feels like a stealth therapy session for smart actors trapped in horse-opera stereotypes. Read more

Variety: Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: A slyly radical psychosexual oddity busting through genre conventions, beyond its Old West Arizona setting ... Read more