USA 1954
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"There was theatre (Griffith), poetry (Murnau), painting (Rossellini), dance (Eisenstein), music (Renoir). Henceforward there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray." Jean-Luc Godard
Somewhat unique for the western genre, this centers on two women conflicting in similar male-dominated gunslinger-type roles. Joan Crawford, is a saloon keeper fighting to keep her establishment alive against the wishes of the local land baron and chief manipulator (Emma Small) who remains her bitter enemy and who will seemingly stop at nothing to have Vienna (Crawford) condemned and forced out of town or better yet hanged for every unsolved misdemeanor in the books. In steps the old lover Johnny (Hayden) and the machismo sparks start to fly before the eventual catfight can ensue. Powerful genre and gender bending make for a pure classic of the screen.
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Theatrical Release: May 27th, 1954
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL vs. Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL vs. Universal - Region 2 - PAL
Captures courtesy of our
German 'sister' site
for the Kinowelt screen captures!
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL LEFT2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT
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| Distribution |
Paramount Region 2 - PAL |
Kinowelt Region 2 - PAL |
Universal Region 2 - PAL |
| Runtime | 1:45:54 [4% PAL-SpeedUp] | 1:45:21 [4% PAL-SpeedUp] | 1:45:16 [4% PAL-SpeedUp] |
| Video |
1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: ? mb/s |
1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 8.8 mb/s |
1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio |
| Audio | Dolby Digital Mono: English, DUBs: Spanish, French | English (Dolby Digital 2.0), DUB: German (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
| Subtitles | English, Danish, Spanish, Finnish, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, none | German, and none | English (HoH), and none |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Paramount
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 24 |
Release Information: Studio: Kinowelt
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: •
Biographies (text screens) Chapters 24 |
Release Information: Edition Details:
• Martin Scorsese Introduction
(3:25) |
| Comments: |
ADDITION: Paramount - Feb 2008. Our information is somewhat sketchy as I don't own the Paramount edition (yet) myself but from the captures sent - it is far superior to the other two releases.
Pablo says: 'Paramount has released a DVD edition of Johnny Guitar here in Spain (probably in other European countries as well), and the colors it shows look absolutely right to me, the image is crisp '. Thanks Pablo! Gary Tooze
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REGARDING KINOWELT VS. UNIVERSAL: NOTE: The color on both is wrong, as the film was a
three-strip TruColor film. Truffaut wanted to use the format for his
1966 FAHRENHEIT 451, but Universal was locked into a contract with
Technicolor, so he settled for that. I bet this film was one of the
reasons why. The new Universal edition may have messed up the color
into the Crayola-Zone with all of its bleeding and inaccuracy, but
Kinowelt's clarity and refinement are undermined by its
color-poorness. I have seen the film on film and can tell you the
TruColor is so good, it can rival the best 3-strip Technicolor you can
imagine and it is too bad the format did not last. In the U.S., the
Republic catalog is handled by Lion's Gate. Let's hope they get a
pristine TruColor-looking transfer (preferably in progressive-scan HD
at 4K), sound clean-up and a bunch of extras this classic deserves. I
bet Mr. Scorsese has more than 3.5 minutes to share with us about the
film.
Nicholas Sheffo from
FulvueDrive-In.com
It is quite shocking how poor the Universal transfer is next to the
Kinowelt. The color balance on the Universal is quite heavily
manipulated and hence skin tones look totally irregular and ridiculous
(see below). This is highly relevant as color is so important in the
film for the male characters: Turkey is in bright yellow, the
Dancing Kid in green, while
Johnny Guitar is in pink (NOTE: The women,
by contrast, are almost totally devoid of color').
The Universal image is far hazier as well
as being cropped. The Kinowelt is from a dual layered DVD (7.26) where
the Universal is single layered (3.75 Gig) and this is the probable
root of the image discrepancy. Unfortunately, the short Scorsese
introduction in no way balances the poor DVD package of the Universal.
Kinowelt all the way!
The film is a true classic and highly recommended. -
Gary Tooze
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DVD Menus
(Kinowelt
- Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Universal - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
Subtitle Sample
(Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Universal - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL TOP2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM
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15-25-39].JPG)
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL TOP2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM
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15-26-31].JPG)
Zoomed-in
(Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - TOP vs. Universal - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL TOP2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM
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15-28-14].JPG)
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL TOP2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM
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15-33-25].JPG)
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL TOP2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM
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16-09-52].JPG)
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1) Paramount (Spain) - Region 2- PAL TOP2) Kinowelt - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE 3) Universal- Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM
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16-11-50].JPG)
Recommended Reading for Western Genre Fans (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in
the Hollywood Western (Cinema and Society) by Michael Coyne |
The Invention of the Western Film : A Cultural
History of the Genre's First Half Century (Genres in American Cinema S.) by Scott Simmon |
The Searchers (Bfi Film Classics) by Edward Buscombe |
The Western Genre by John Saunders |
The Encyclopedia of Westerns (The Facts on File
Film Reference Library) by Herb Fagen, Tom Selleck |
Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in
Twentieth-Century America by Richard Slotkin |
The Western (Inside Film) by David Lusted |
Red River (Bfi Film Classics) by Suzanne Liandrat-Guigues |
Check out more in "The Library"
Report Card:
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Image: |
Paramount |
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Sound: |
Paramount |
| Extras: | Universal |
| Menu: | - |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Paramount Region 2 - PAL |
Kinowelt Region 2 - PAL |
Universal Region 2 - PAL |
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Gary Tooze
Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA |
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