Although this simmering - and occasionally self-consciously camp - western from director Nicholas Ray subverts its notoriously conservative genre, the real purpose of his study in mob hysteria was to condemn the Communist witch-hunt then tearing Hollywood apart. Heavy with symbolism, Philip Yordan's script also crackles with repressed sexuality, as saloon owner Joan Crawford and vicious cattle queen Mercedes McCambridge cross swords over land and men (while eponymous hero Sterling Hayden laconically strums his guitar). Providing Crawford with one of her best roles and gloriously shot in Trucolor by Harry Stradling, this baroque bonanza fascinates on so many levels that it demands to be repeatedly viewed and reviewed.

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.