#nicolas ray

[juke-box67]

« Johnny Guitar » est un western américain marquant réalisé par Nicholas Ray et sorti en 1954. Le film est devenu un classique du genre, connu pour son atmosphère stylisée et ses tensions dramatiques, et a même été inscrit au National Film Registry pour sa valeur culturelle. Il met en vedette Joan Crawford dans le rôle de Vienna, Sterling Hayden dans celui de Johnny Guitar, avec Mercedes McCambridge, Ernest Borgnine et Scott Brady dans des rôles secondaires majeurs. La musique du film a été composée par Victor Young, et la chanson titre Johnny Guitar, interprétée à l’origine par Peggy Lee, est l’un des thèmes les plus reconnaissables associés au film. 

L’EP 45 tours, sorti en Espagne vers 1956–1958 sur le label La Voz de Su Amo (référence 7EML 28.125), contient des reprises instrumentales par Franck Pourcel et son Orchestre de Corde de thèmes liés au film comme Johnny Guitar, C’est magnifique, Te he amado demasiado et Una casa portuguesa. Ce type de disque était courant à l’époque pour populariser les musiques de films auprès du grand public, souvent arrangées dans un style orchestral plutôt que fidèles à l’originale. 

Concernant sa valeur, un EP 45 tours espagnol de ce genre en bon état est aujourd’hui plutôt recherché par les collectionneurs de disques vinyles et de memorabilia cinématographique. On peut estimer sa valeur entre environ 15 € et 40 €.

[artist-issues]

I like how James Dean sometimes chooses to let the scene do the work of revealing what his character is thinking and feeling.

Like this shot in Rebel Without a Cause. All the kids, who up till this point, have not been paying close attention to the presentation on the universe, are supposed to react with surprise and confusion and even fear when it ends with that big “man alone bang.” Sal Mineo’s Plato has the biggest reaction, getting up and hiding behind his seat in his close-up. You can see extras and background characters scrunching down or staring. Natalie Wood’s Judy sits up and looks disturbed, all eyebrows.

But James Dean’s Jim doesn’t look scared or nervous. He just looks like he’s thinking, and the flashing commotion shifted his mood a little bit. Because in real life, even if a school presentation did startle you, you wouldn’t be likely to let it show. You wouldn’t make a big deal of it on your face if you could help it. Especially not if you were a new kid surrounded by people you wished would like you. 

We already know from his other performances that James Dean could show what Jim is feeling about the “man alone” and “end of the world” show on his face. He’s perfectly capable of opening up the character’s psyche and making that close-up an emotional one. 

But instead, he just tempers it with realism. A teenager who’s always trying to prove he can be brave and tough, in a new environment, like Jim, would not show it if flashing lights and doomsday speeches made him nervous…if they made him nervous in the first place. If the audience needs to see that all the cocky, careless teenagers in that room suddenly care about the idea of their place in the universe, well, the audience can glean that from the lights, the music, the change in moods from the less-personal-image-concerned-teenage characters in the background. That’s what I mean when it seems like James Dean lets the scene do the work.

Sometimes he lets the mood and the set and the action help the audience interpret his character. And sometimes he cuts the character open and lets you see inside the character’s heart and mind in one messy, dramatic outburst. He picks his moments for emoting and dramatizing emotions carefully. Every shot shouldn’t be big, dramatic expressions, otherwise everything would feel over-the-top, unrealistic, and one-note.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s episode of I’m Obsessed With One Shot in Rebel Without a Cause. Tune in next week to read my thoughts on Natalie Wood’s neckerchief 

[mortdubonheurmasculin]

They Live by Night (1948)

[reassurance]

Johnny Guitar. Nicholas Ray. 1954. USA.

[cinemphatic]

Bigger Than Life (1956) dir Nicolas Ray

[anneliesengland]

[eigabaka]

They Live By Night (1948; Nicolas Ray)

[beyond-en-scene]

“Boys who play with guns have to be ready to die like men” Nicolas Ray’s Johnny Guitar feels so modern, I can’t believe it’s a film that’s more than 60 years old. That vivid use of colour, how the scenes are constructed, that use of music. Fierce, playful, ultra kool. It makes me want to make a western.