Harrison's Reports (1954)

May 8, 1954 HARRISON’S REPORTS 75 ‘‘Johnny Guitar” with Joan Crawford, Mercedes McCambridge and Sterling Hayden (Republic, August; time, 110 mm.) A tense and dramatic outdoor melodrama is served up in “Johnny Guitar,” which should do well at the box -office, not only because of the drawing power of Joan Crawford’s name, but also because it is one of the better pictures of its type. Filmed in what is without question the best example of Trucolor photography yet shown, its mixture of romance, hatred and violence grips one’s attention throughout, in spite of the fact that it is overburdened with a number of “talky” passages. This, however, is not a serious flaw and could be corrected by some judicious cutting of the rather overlong running time. Miss Crawford is highly efi^ective as a strong-willed owner of a gambling palace who knows how to handle a gun and who opposes the anti-railroad-minded ranchers in the community. A most compelling performance is turned in by Mercedes McCambridge as a venomous-tongued woman who plays on the feelings of the irate ranchers to give vent to her own hatred for Miss Crawford — a hatred that stems from her twisted desire for a handsome outlaw discarded by Miss Crawford. There are a number of tensely exciting moments, the most eflFective occurring in Ae closing reels where Miss McCambridge, after failing in an attempt to have Miss Crawford lynched, loses her life in a gun duel with her. Not the least of the pic' ture’s assets is the outstanding musical score. Set in the days when the stagecoach was giving way to the railroads, the story opens with Sterling Hayden, a notorious gunman, arriving in a remote Arizona frontier settlement to take a job in Joan’s gambling palace, where he hoped to forget about his guns and to earn a peaceful living playing the guitar. The gambling palace, which did no business, seems to be out of place in the sparsely settled area until Hayden learns that Joan, having known what route an incoming railroad would take, had staked claim to enough land along the route to build an entire town, and had built her gambling house on the only strategic site for the depot, despite the fury of neighboring ranchers who felt that the railroad would bring unwanted settlers and that their grazing lands would be threatened. The one most anxious to cause trouble for Joan is^ Mercedes, whose hatred bordered on the psychopathic since it is tied in with her twisted loathing — and desire — for Scott Brady, a fascinating outlaw discarded by Joan. Violence breaks out on the night of Hayden’s arrival when Mercedes, aided by Ward Bond, an influential rancher, convinces Frank Ferguson, the Marshal, that Brady and his gang had killed her brother in a stage holdup that day. When Joan refuses to give any testimony that might incriminate Brady, she and her associates, including Brady and his gang, are given twenty-four hours to get out of the territory. Joan dismisses her staff to save them from harm, but refuses to leave herself. Hayden, by this time in love with her, decides to remain close by. Incited by Mercedes, the ranchers storm the gambling palace, bum it to the ground, and capture Joan. Quick action by Hayden saves Joan from being lynched, and both make their way to a mountain hideout. They are followed by the ranchers, who had wiped out Brady and his gang. Mercedes, noticing that the ranchers were inclined to stop the killings, takes matters into her own hands and forces Joan into a gim duel that ends with her own death. Tired of the violence and trouble, Joan, grateful to Hayden for his love and protection, leaves the territory with him to start a new and peaceful life. It was directed by Nicholas Ray, from a screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on a novel by Roy Chanslor, No producer credit is given. Adults. Flame and the Flesh” with Lana Turner, Pier Angeli and Carlos Thompson (MGM, May; time, 105 min.) Photographed in Technicolor against interesting and authentic Italian resort backgrounds, this is a wellproduced sex melodrama, in which Lana Turner is presented as a woman of low morals. The story is on the sordid side and is strictly an adult entertainment, but it has ingredients that have proved to be popular in the past and undoubtedly will prove popular in this case. Miss Turner, seen in this picture as a brunette, is highly attractive and she is cast m a role that is loaded with sex appeal, but her acting is tops. As a matter of fact, she never has been more ranvincing in a picture. Carlos Thompson and Bonar Colleano, the male leads, would not perhaps win a prize for looks, but their acting is skillful and their characterizations believable. The sex situations are passionate. Pier Angeli, as the girl who suffers because of Miss Turner’s tactics, is a sympathetic figure. There is some comedy here and there to relieve the story s dramatic intensity. The direction is expert. Producer Joe Pasternak has shown good judgment in his selection of the story for a picture of this type. The color photography is first-rate: — Journeying from town to town without funds and with no definite plans except to meet men, Lana stops at Naples. She chances to meet Colleano, a young, naive musician, who is delighted that so beautiful a woman should appeal to him for shelter. He invites her to spend the night in his apartment, hoping that the invitation will prove acceptable to Carlos Thompson, his roommate, a popular cafe singer who had just become engaged to Pier, the cafe owner’s daughter. Thompson tries to ignore Lana, but her beauty and her taunting manner disturb him; his singing at the cafe grows listless, and he is also irritable with Pier. Meanwhile Lana settles down in the apartment, and Colleano, enthralled, proposes to her, only to be rejected. She continues to taunt Thompson and, though he outwardly despises Ler, he is drawn to her in spite of himself. In the events that follow, Thompson runs off with Lana on the eve of his wedding to Pier. Their life together becomes a series of packing and unpacking as they move from town to town, fearing the wrath of Colleano, who had vowed to kill them if he should find them. Their dwindling funds and Thompson’s inability to find work irritate Lana. They quarrel frequently but she manages to retain her hold on him. Learning that Lana and Thompson are at Amalfi, Colleano goes there and arrives in time to witness her newest romance, tliis time with the owner of the cafe where Thompson had been hired as a singer. Now aware of Lana’s true nature, Colleano pleads with Thompson to return to Pier, but Thompson, still infatuated with Lana, makes a final attempt to win her back. But she repulses him, not because she no longer loved him, but fecause she felt that he would be happier with Pier. She leaves Amalfi alone, headed for no place in particular. Joe Pasternak produced it, and Richard Brooks directed it, from a screenplay by Helen Deutsch, based on a novel by Auguste Bailly. Strictly for adults.