The Nicholas Ray Film Festival at Webster University Continues Friday With JOHNNY GUITAR

“ A man can lie, steal… and even kill. But as long as he hangs on to his pride, he’s still a man. All a woman has to do is slip – once. And she’s a “tramp!” Must be a great comfort to you to be a man. “

Webster University presents “The Other St. Nick”, a six-film Nicholas Ray Film Festival that runs December 27th-January 5th at the University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave). The films screen Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:00pm the weekends of Dec 27-29th and Jan 3-5th. The series continues Friday night, January 3rd at 7pm with JOHNNY GUITAR (1954). A Facebook invite for the film can be found HERE

A revisionist Western made at a time when a large section of the population didn’t recognize that the Western genre could use some revising, Nick Ray’s Johnny Guitar focuses on female leads who are much stronger than their male counterparts. Witness Vienna (Joan Crawford, never anyone to take lightly), a widely-disliked saloon owner who has to defend herself and her bar when accused of crimes she did not commit by her rival Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge).At Vienna’s side is her ex-lover, Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden).

Here’s the rest of the schedule:

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) Saturday, January 4, 2020 at 7:00pm

Released less than a month after his death in a car crash, Rebel Without a Cause remains James Dean’s most iconic role. Here playing troubled teen Jim Stark, he takes up with Plato (Sal Mineo) and Judy (Natalie Wood) in a dangerous world of chickie runs and knife fights, thereby changing the tone and level of seriousness of every teen film released in its wake. Happily, Rebel also features some of Ray’s favorite cinematic flourishes, including strong use of the CinemaScope frame and an affection for the underdog character(s).

BIGGER THAN LIFE (1956)  Sunday, January 5, 2020 at 7:00pm

A film critical of the patriarchy and the nuclear family, Nick Ray’s Bigger Than Life has James Mason playing Ed Avery, a well-liked father and teacher in a quaint suburban neighborhood. When Avery falls ill and is prescribed the experimental drug cortisone, he becomes addicted and his life spirals out of control. One of the most exceptional samples of CinemaScope framing in Ray’s oeuvre, Bigger Than Life feels at once of its time and timely.