Johnny Guitar

Johnny Guitar is an unusual “western” movie from 1954. Starring Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden and Mercedes McCambridge, it is very untypical of the genre. Although Sterling Hayden portrays the title character, — Johnny “Guitar” Logan – he is really an observer to the action. The film’s most important and strongest characters are women. The film was also highly regarded by critics for its allegorical qualities (some viewed it as an indictment of MyCarthyism) as well as its cinematography. Wikipedia has a good article about the film.

My interest in this movie is, of course, the theme song. Written by Victor Young and the incomparable Peggy Lee, it has a very haunting melody which is effectively woven throughout the film, as can be seen from the following clips from the film:

This clip is the dramatic end of the film:

Peggy Lee recorded the title song as well:

That the theme from Johnny Guitar became fairly popular with guitar bands is an interesting sidelight – both the Spotnicks and the Ventures recorded it. Here is a video of the Spotnicks version:

My version can be accessed here:

Johnny Guitar

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