Which 1954 Western stars Joan Crawford as saloon owner Vienna?

The 1954 Western starring Joan Crawford as saloon owner Vienna is Johnny Guitar.

Directed by Nicholas Ray, the film places Crawford’s Vienna at the center of a tense Arizona frontier community. She owns a saloon built near the route of an approaching railroad, making her a target for local hostility and for Emma Small, played by Mercedes McCambridge. Sterling Hayden plays the former gunslinger Johnny Guitar, Vienna’s old lover.

The movie was adapted from Roy Chanslor’s novel. Crawford held the film rights and helped bring the project to Republic Pictures, where she secured the starring role. Its intense color design, heightened dialogue, and shifting gender roles made it very different from conventional male-centered Westerns.

A frequent mix-up is assuming that “Johnny Guitar” names Crawford’s character; it does not. Vienna is the saloon owner, while Johnny Guitar is Hayden’s character. The film’s title song was written by Peggy Lee and Victor Young, and the film entered the National Film Registry in 2008.