The Horse's Head

The Plot: While in New York, sailor Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) meets and falls for Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), who has just returned to New York from Shanghai. Michael soon learns that Elsa is married to famous criminal defense attorney Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane), who offers Michael a job on his yacht. As things become complicated between Michael and Elsa, Michael meets Arthur’s business partner George Grisby (Glenn Anders) who, knowing of Michael’s criminal past, offers him $5000 to confess to murdering Grisby so that Grisby can fake his own death and disappear. That’s all I’ll reveal for now, not because I’m worried about spoilers, but rather because the plot becomes so confusing at this point that I genuinely couldn’t explain it to you even if I tried. It ends in a hall of mirrors, that much I can confidently tell you.

Why It Matters: The NFR states the film “is renowned for its stunning set pieces…baroque cinematography and convoluted plot.”

But Does It Really?: As much as I’ve enjoyed watching and studying Welles’ other NFR films, “Lady from Shanghai” threw me for a loop. Welles’ movies are off the beaten path; you either lean into their chaos or let them drive you mad. I could go along with “Citizen Kane” (and to an extent “Magnificent Ambersons” and “Touch of Evil”), but “Shanghai” is a whole other animal. Part of that is its film noir crypticness, and muddling of its source material, some of that is (say it with me) studio meddling of Welles’ original film. Still, it has the hall of mirrors scene, which has become so much of a trope it’s incredible to realize it came from a single movie. “The Lady from Shanghai” is iconic enough that its NFR induction is understandable, but man alive is it weird.

Wow, That’s Dated: Grisby’s entire plan hinges on corpus delicti; Michael can’t be convicted of murdering Grisby if the police can’t find his body. While still a rarity, advancements in forensic science have since made it possible to convict someone of murder using circumstantial evidence.

Title Track: The film at one point shared a working title with its source novel: “If I Die Before I Wake”. Other titles considered included “Black Irish” and “Take This Woman” before the final, more mysterious “The Lady from Shanghai”.

• In my research for this post, everything specifically about Rita Hayworth’s performance centered around her hair, famously cut short and bleached blonde for this film. And who says no one took her seriously? I think she does the best she can with a very constricted part. Like many a “dame” in film noir, Hayworth’s Elsa has to play everything close to the chest, not allowing her much to do outside subtle glancing. She gets better as the film progresses, but you hate to see a good actor get upstaged by her own hair.
• Bannister’s yacht was “played” by Zaca, owned at the time by actor Errol Flynn. As per his contract, Flynn was always present during the Zaca shoots, skippering the boat between takes. Also blink and you’ll miss Flynn in the background of the Acapulco cantina scene. As of this writing, Zaca is still active, though given the amount of refurbishment it takes to keep a nearly 100 year old ship going we may have a Ship of Theseus situation on our hands.
• When Elsa goes swimming of the Acapulco coast, she returns to the boat with immediately dry hair, which then becomes wet in her next close-up and then dry again in the next shot. What is in that water?
• And then Grisby arrives and things take a turn for the weird(er). Part of that is Glenn Anders’ unrestrained performance (Anders was a stage actor and “Lady from Shanghai” was a rare film performance), and part of that is the juxtaposition from Welles’ original vision for the film and Columbia’s mandated reshoots. Side note: the $5000 Grisby offers Michael would be over $75,000 in today’s money.
• And then Bannister and his crew make port in Saulsalito and the film becomes a nice travelogue of late ‘40s San Francisco. The first notable filming location is Michael and Elsa’s secret rendezvous at the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences. The aquarium has changed quite a bit in the last 80 years, but seeing it here was a pleasant surprise (even if they use optical trickery to make the fish look bigger).
• [Spoilers] This movie gets real confusing real quick once Michael tries to pull off the murder plot. Without revealing too much, I’m no expert on this sort of thing, but when you’re trying to kill someone to stop them from talking, you gotta make sure they’re actually dead! Come on people, is this your first film noir?
• The film’s third act becomes a real circus with several plot revelations colliding into each other (including a few that only make sense if you’ve read the book). First we get an extended courtroom drama as Arthur tries to defend Michael, with lots of overdubbed expository dialogue (I’m guessing in an attempt to clear up the plot. Didn’t help). This is followed by a chase through Chinatown, and finally the film’s legendary showdown inside a hall of mirrors. It’s easily the most visually engaging sequence in the whole movie, seemingly the only time Welles’ vision made it onto the big screen (although Columbia cut it down from its initial 20 minutes to under 5). Speaking of the finale, pour one out for Playland, the gone but not forgotten amusement park that once resided next to Ocean Beach.

• But the film’s most enduring legacy is its Hall of Mirrors finale. Many a film and TV show has featured a climactic shootout in a hall of mirrors, including another NFR entry: “Enter the Dragon”.

The Plot: On the outskirts of an Arizona town in the Old West, Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) enters a saloon, having been sent for by the saloon’s owner, Vienna (Joan Crawford). Shortly thereafter, Vienna is confronted about her connection to the Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady) and his gang, who have been accused of murdering the brother of Vienna’s longtime rival Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge). With the prospect of Vienna’s saloon being closed down, Johnny agrees to stay and protect Vienna. But this is just the tip of the iceberg as plenty of secrets will be revealed in this Western that doesn’t play by anyone’s rules.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “one of the stranger, kinkier Westerns of all time” with “enough symbolism to keep a psychiatrist occupied for years”. An essay by “the dean of classic film distributors” Michael Schlesinger digs into some of that symbolism.

But Does It Really?: Unfortunately I side with most 1954 critics when I say, “What the hell was that?” I’m not a fan of Westerns to begin with, so you’d think one that subverts all the tropes would hold my interest a little more, but nope, “Johnny Guitar” is just another Western I had to muddle through for this blog. Now before I hear you cry “You just didn’t get it”, clearly this movie has enough devotees to admit it might be working on a frequency I’m just not catching. “Johnny Guitar” isn’t bad, it’s just weird, but it’s another one of those underrated Westerns that film scholars love, so it finds a deserving spot on the NFR, despite my misgivings.

Title Track: Composed by Victor Young with lyrics by Peggy Lee (who also performs the song), “Johnny Guitar” plays briefly over the end titles, which clearly wasn’t enough to get the song an Oscar nomination. Speaking of…

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar or precursor nominations for “Johnny Guitar”, though it did land at 9th place in the French magazine’s Cahiers du Cinéma’s annual top ten list, the first hint that this film’s appeal lays abroad.

• I feel bad for Sterling Hayden. He may be playing the title character, but this is clearly Joan’s movie. He has a few heroic moments, but at the end of the day is movie really should have been called “Vienna”. There’s even a long stretch in the middle where Johnny is absent from the action. He doesn’t even get above-the-title billing! Oh, and it’s pretty obvious that Sterling Hayden doesn’t know how to play the guitar, which you’d think would be a major prerequisite for the part
• My biggest qualm with the movie: there’s too many secrets going on at the beginning. The first big scene in the saloon features all the main characters, each with some secret that won’t be revealed until later in the movie, meaning there’s a lot of opaque dialogue happening that makes you feel like you came in the middle. Not helping matters is that once the character secrets are revealed, I didn’t care.

• Somewhat infamously, everyone hated everyone else on this shoot. Crawford didn’t like Mercedes McCambridge (she wanted Claire Trevor to play Emma) and their rivalry soured production for everyone else. Crawford also didn’t get along with Sterling Hayden, and the feeling was more than mutual, with Hayden stating later that there wasn’t enough money in the world to get him to work with Crawford again, adding “And I like money.”
• Speaking of McCambridge, I liked her performance in this, mainly because it was unapologetically campy. She plays Emma with scenery-chewing gusto, making no effort to hide her desire for vengeance against Vienna. Also, as mentioned in many an essay about the film, you can definitely read a lesbian subtext into the Vienna/Emma dynamic. Ultimately this movie is about their relationship.
• As with any Western, there’s a plethora of familiar faces. There’s Ward Bond in his umpteenth NFR appearance leading the posse. The Dancin’ Kid’s gang consists of a pre-fame Ernest Borgnine, plus Royal Dano aka Robot Lincoln (hey that’s two Disneyland references in one post!). And one of Vienna’s loyal employees is John Carradine, who gets slightly more to do with his screen time here than he did in “The Court Jester”.
• Several references are made throughout the film to Albuquerque, New Mexico, but everyone pronounces it “al-ba-kirk”. Only three syllables? Not Al-ba-kirk-ee? Or even the Bugs Bunny sanctioned Al-ba-koik-ee?
• Man, I really don’t have much else to say about “Johnny Guitar”. To reiterate, I don’t think it’s a bad movie, it just didn’t hold my interest in the way I hoped it would. But hey, there’s over 900 movies on this list, I’m not going to enjoy all of them. As “Johnny Guitar” reached its inevitable showdown conclusion, all I could think as I was watching was, “What the hell was that?”

• Roy Chanslor wrote another western novel that would get turned into a movie: “The Ballad of Cat Ballou”.

• Among the filmmakers inspired by “Johnny Guitar” is Pedro Almodóvar, who included the film during a pivotal scene in “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”. 

• During my viewing I wondered if the film was ever a play at some point. Turns out it wasn’t just a play, it was a musical! A musical adaptation of “Johnny Guitar” played Off-Broadway in 2004, and according to the aforementioned Schlesinger essay played up the implied lesbian subtext between Vienna and Emma to the hilt.
• And of course, electric guitarist Johnny “Guitar” Watson got his stage name after seeing this movie.

The Plot: Local tavern the Sickle and Sheaf in the town of Cedarville is the setting for this melodrama. It seems that the tavern (and the inn that houses the tavern) was recently taken over by Simon Slade (Lawrence Chenault) who swindled ownership away from his business partner Joe Morgan (Charles Gilpin). Despondent, Joe turns to drinking and quickly becomes the town drunk, spending his days at the Sickle and Sheaf rather than with his wife Fannie and their young daughter Mary (Myra Burwell and Actor Unknown). There’s plenty of unnecessary subplots and preaching on the dangers of alcohol to go around in one of the earliest surviving films with an all-Black cast.

Why It Matters: The NFR write-up gives the briefest of historical significance for this film, which we’ll get into as we go.

But Does It Really?: Obviously any silent era Black cinema should be preserved, but “Ten Nights” has one thing going for it that gives it a unique quality. This was the fourth film adaptation of the novel “Ten Nights in a Bar-Room” (a very popular novel at the time), but the first with an all-Black cast. Turns out this movie was the “The Wiz” of its day! While the film as a whole was a bit of a slog to get through, its historical significance (and its representation of the short-lived Colored Players Film Corporation) helps it stand out among its NFR contemporaries.

Everybody Gets One: Although this is Charles Sidney Gilpin’s sole NFR appearance (and one of his rare film roles), he has an important connection to another NFR movie. Primarily a stage actor, Gilpin originated the role of Brutus Jones in Eugene O’Neill’s “The Emperor Jones”. His refusal to use that word on stage led to him being bypassed for the eventual film adaptation with Paul Robeson.

Wow, That’s Dated: This is another one of those movies of the era where drinking and gambling are the two greatest evils in the world, and the results are always fatal.

Title Track: The punctuation surrounding the words “Bar Room” has led to some confusion over the years. The original books spells it “Bar-Room”, while other adaptations opt for “Bar-room”. Several listings for this film (including the official NFR write-up) list the word as “Barroom”, but as always, when in doubt I go with the film’s title card, which in this case separates it into two distinct words. Granted, the title card appears to be a recreation for the 2016 restoration, so we may never know for sure.

The Plot: New York’s famous Brooklyn Bridge finally gets its due in Ken Burns’ first documentary. Presented in two halves, “Brooklyn Bridge” chronicles the bridge’s lengthy and dangerous construction as well as its legacy and impact on pop culture and architecture. And even at this early stage in Ken Burns’ career, we get plenty of zoomed-in historical photos with accompanying voice-overs. 

Why It Matters: The NFR gives some background for the film and praises Ken Burns as “a trusted public historian”. The write-up includes an interview with Ken Burns for the Library of Congress upon the induction of “Brooklyn Bridge” into the NFR. Did you know Ken Burns nominates films for NFR consideration too? Looks like I’m in esteemed company.

But Does It Really?: Because he’s known primarily for television, I didn’t realize Ken Burns has a few theatrical documentaries, and given Burns’ impact on documentary film of course one of them should be on the NFR. Like so many of Burns’ documentaries, “Brooklyn Bridge” quite impressively makes history come alive, turning what could have been bland engineering history into something much more personal and cinematic. I learned a lot about the Brooklyn Bridge thanks to this film, though to be fair I didn’t know anything about it going in; but still, it’s an informative, entertaining watch. Ken Burns is one of the most influential documentarians in American film, so having “Brooklyn Bridge” on the NFR is a natural choice to honor the man.

Everybody Gets One: Ken Burns knew he wanted to be a filmmaker since childhood, but it wasn’t until studying at Hampshire College that he decided on documentary filmmaking, fascinated by figuring out a way to “wake up American history”. In the late ‘70s, Burns received a copy of “The Great Bridge”, David McCullough’s book about the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and knew he had to make a documentary based on it. “Brooklyn Bridge” was Ken Burns’ first documentary feature, and his first collaboration with PBS.

Seriously, Oscars?: “Brooklyn Bridge” was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 1982 Oscars, losing to Arnold Schwartzman’s “Genocide”, which…yeah this movie was not going to beat the Holocaust. Although Ken Burns didn’t win an Oscar for “Brooklyn Bridge” (or for his subsequent nomination for “The Statue of Liberty”), he has received five Emmys, four Peabodys, and a Grammy for his TV documentaries. 

• Also included among the tributes are plenty of film clips that either feature the bridge or prominently reference it. The films included are “The Bowery” with George Raft, “Way Out West” with Laurel and Hardy, “It Happened in Brooklyn” with Frank Sinatra, “Bowery Bugs” with Bugs Bunny, and “Tarzan’s New York Adventure” with…Tarzan.

• There are several references throughout to people being conned into buying the Brooklyn Bridge. While never explicitly mentioned within the documentary, this is a reference to George C. Parker, a con man in the early 20th century who would allegedly convince naive immigrants fresh off the boat that he constructed the Brooklyn Bridge and would sell it to them for everything they had. While it’s disputed that Parker ever actually did that, the idea of buying the Brooklyn Bridge became synonymous with gullible acts of stupidity. And if you believe that I got a bridge I can sell you.
• Playwright Arthur Miller makes an on-camera appearance at the end to provide his introspection about what the Brooklyn Bridge symbolizes. Though not directly referenced, Miller wrote the play “A View from the Bridge” about Italian-Americans in Brooklyn, so I assume that’s why he’s here.

• “Brooklyn Bridge” should not be confused with “Brooklyn Bridge”, the high-quality yet low-rated 1990s sitcom about Gary David Goldberg’s childhood in Brooklyn. Still, when am I ever going to get another chance to reference that show on this blog?

• David McCullough would go on to write two presidential autobiographies that would become prestige HBO projects: “Truman” and “John Adams”.

• Ken Burns’ follow-up to “Brooklyn Bridge” was a documentary about Shakers, but he came into prominence in 1990 with the success of his nine part series “The Civil War”. Other notable Ken Burns documentaries include “Baseball”, “Jazz”, and “The War”. As of this writing, Burns’ most recent series was his six-parter “The American Revolution” in 2025. In the aforementioned Library of Congress interview, Burns stated that he was “over the moon” about “Brooklyn Bridge” being added to the National Film Registry.

The Plot: Once upon a time, the beautiful Princess Aurora (voiced by Mary Costa) is born, and her kingdom celebrates at her christening. The festivities are thwarted, however, by Maleficent (voiced by Eleanor Audley) an evil fairy who wasn’t invited. She curses the baby to die on her 16th birthday by pricking the spindle of a spinning wheel. Thankfully, the good fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, (voiced by Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, and Barbara Luddy) change the spell so that she merely sleeps, to be awakened by true love’s first kiss. That’s about it plotwise, but please enjoy the stunningly beautiful animation as Walt Disney’s brand of storytelling reaches its pinnacle. 

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film’s “magnificent score” and “vivid images and charming details”, while also singling out Maleficent as “one of Disney’s most enduring villainesses”. 

But Does It Really?: While not my personal favorite Disney animated film, “Sleeping Beauty” is, for my money, the most beautiful. The artistry on display is so good it distracts from the movie’s thin story and characters. But then again, “Sleeping Beauty” never pretends to be anything other than a wholesome, pure fairy tale, so there’s a lot I’m willing to forgive in the story department. Overall, the movie holds up well and still has enough enchanting moments to be considered among the best Disney films. While I never pushed to get “Sleeping Beauty” on the NFR, I’m glad it made the cut.

Seriously, Oscars?: “Sleeping Beauty” received a single Oscar nomination: Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) for George Bruns’ adaptation of the Tchaikovsky ballet score. The film lost to another NFR entry: “Porgy and Bess”.

• For what it’s worth, Princess Aurora is one of the few Disney heroines for which both of her birth parents are alive and stay alive for the whole movie. Granted she wasn’t raised by them and her mother doesn’t even have a name, but I’ll take what I can get.
• Ah, Maleficent. When it comes to Disney villains, you can’t do much better than a vengeful fairy who looks like the devil and sounds like Cinderella’s stepmother. Eleanor Audley is two for two with iconic Disney villains, and this is her masterwork, cackling and chewing the scenery in her limited screentime. Bonus shoutout to the legendary Marc Davis, supervising animator for both Maleficent and Aurora. Talk about range!

• Outside of Audley, I don’t have a lot to say about the voice cast. Mary Costa definitely has the pipes for Aurora, as does Bill Shirley as Prince Phillip. All three good fairies play well off each other, especially Luddy as stubborn Merryweather. And NFR buffs may recognize Marvin Miller as the narrator; he also narrated “Gerald McBoing-Boing” and voiced Robby the Robot in “Forbidden Planet”.
• In true Disney fashion, a little too much time is spent fleshing out the side characters rather than our protagonists. The fairies are fun and endearing, especially when they try to plan Aurora’s birthday, but most of the film’s screentime is devoted to them rather than Aurora. We don’t even see grown-up Aurora (or Briar Rose, her witness relocation name) until 18 minutes into the movie. It also doesn’t help that Aurora is, ya know, asleep for most of the third act.

• In a film filled with okay songs, “Once Upon a Dream” is the sole standout, serving as the film’s leitmotif (even being referenced as a minor plot point). It’s a charming sequence, although there’s an unintentional lol moment for me when the song ends and Prince Philip softly asks Aurora, “Who are you?”. These are the questions you ask before you start romantically singing at someone.

• I’m trying very hard not to poke holes in a fairy tale, but I have a few questions. First off, they ban all the spinning wheels in the kingdom, so what did they do for clothes for 16 years? And if the curse is lifted after sunset on Aurora’s 16th birthday, why would you bring her back to the castle before sunset? I know, I know, it’s a fairy tale, just let it be. 
• I love the reaction shot of Maleficent as she watches her goons capture Prince Philip. It’s like Jane Greer watching the fight/getting secretly turned on in “Out of the Past”.

• That’s one heck of a finale. The score amps up with the action as Prince Philip escapes Maleficent’s dungeon, fights off her goons, and does battle with Maleficent as a fire-breathing dragon. You just wish it went on a bit longer. 

• Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned in my research is that in the Perrault version, the prince doesn’t break the spell with a kiss, but rather by being  “captivated by her beauty”. So they did have consent back then!

• Speaking of the original fairy tale, are we not doing the second part where Prince Philip’s mother is an ogress who wants to eat Aurora and their children? You know what, good call.

• Like so many other popular Disney franchises, the characters from “Sleeping Beauty” pop up in countless other Disney media, most notably Maleficent who typically serves as the leader of all Disney villains. Maleficent is prominently featured in the theme park show Fantasmic, though due to one viral incident her dragon form no longer breathes fire.

• Speaking of Maleficent, the mistress of all evil has gotten not one but two live-action remake/prequel/sequels starring Angelina Jolie. The first “Maleficent” hit when live-action Disney remakes were still a novelty, but unfortunately “Mistress of Evil” arrived just as we were all getting sick of those damn things.

• But the biggest influence “Sleeping Beauty” had was on Disney animation itself. The film’s financial loss led to layoffs at Walt Disney Productions, and Walt determined that future animation films had to be done much more cheaply. Starting with 1961’s “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, the original drawings were Xeroxed directly onto animation cels (rather than being hand-painted), resulting in the “scratchy” animation style that defined the next era of Disney animation. It would take 30 years and another fairy tale – “The Little Mermaid” – before Disney animation hit its next zenith. 

Further Viewing: “Grand Canyon”, the Oscar-winning short that preceded “Sleeping Beauty” in its original theatrical run. This is why there’s a Grand Canyon diorama at Disneyland!