The Resentful Romantic: Bitches Together

Nicholas Ray explores two sides of the resentful romantic through Born to be Bad’s Christabel Caine Carey (Joan Fontaine) and Johnny Guitar’s Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge). Though these characters dwell in different cinematic circumstances, they have conspicuously similar characteristics. Both women are obsessed with revenge, devoted to their villainous ways, and motivated by their sexual frustrations. Ray’s directing style draws distinct parallels between these women. Through his creative use of blocking, meticulous attention to beats, and unique stylistic touches, Ray creates intriguingly comparable nuances in these women.
Synopsis: 

In Johnny Guitar, Emma Small is hell-bent on destroying Vienna (Joan Crawford). Emma is hopelessly in love with Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady) and can’t stand the fact that Vienna receives all his attention. The entire film centers on Emma’s vicious revenge attempts. She stops at nothing in her pursuit and because of this singular devotion she ends up in a shootout that she can’t win. Born to be Bad focuses on Christabel Caine’s deceitful neurosis. Her inability to be honest with herself drives each of her malicious actions. Under the guise of a soft-spoken do-gooder, Christabel infiltrates a group of upper class socialites and subsequently destroys each of their lives by pursuing her misguided attempts at self-fulfillment. Christabel ruthlessly sacrifices all of her meaningful relationships and in the end loses any chance at being truly fulfilled.

Old Ways: 
Both Christbael and Emma radiate a false confidence and almost always appear uncomfortable with the men they have true feelings for. Both women frequently share the frame with a multitude of male characters that hinge on their every move. Ray depicts these women as one-step-ahead until they reach the apex of their deception and maliciousness. Both Emma and Christabel have physically apparent breaking moments, become frenzied and manic shortly after they are exposed, and end their quests on a tragic note (death in Emma’s case, and the loss of Nick Bradley Christabel’s case.)

In Born to be Bad, Ray portrays Christabel Caine as falsely confident through carefully crafted beats. She always has her self-assured look fade just after the other character buys into her deception. When Curtis (Zachery Scott) has second thoughts about Donna (Joan Leslie) in the jewelry store, Christabel has a momentary look of fear and excitement slide across her face. Blocking plays into this moment because Curtis is directly behind Christabel examining the larger jewelry piece as Christabel reveals her true self to the camera. The tension created on screen is electric and Ray follows a similar pattern every time Christabel lies. She displays complete confidence in her falsehood, leans into a physical assertion of her presence, displays a quick glimmer of fear/relief, and the pattern begins again.

True Romance: 
Ray uses a completely different approach when he portrays Emma Small as falsely confident. Christabel was soft and seemingly innocent; Emma is aggressive, loud and fiery. Emma displays a similar pattern of manipulation, but when she lies her aggressiveness tries to mimic truthfulness. In the first saloon scene Vienna (Joan Crawford) calls her out for her feelings about Dancin’ Kid. When confronted, Emma spits fire, fixes piercing glares on Vienna, and even goes as far a curling up her fists. Ray elevates these attributes in Emma every time Vienna evades her grasp. Her level of intolerance rises to epic proportions and Ray’s use of blocking plays right into that emotion. Moving to the forefront of nearly every frame she occupies, Emma becomes a brutal and threatening force.

Emma is always seen leading a gaggle of townsfolk followers. This large group, comprised completely of males, hinges on her every move.  Even Marshall Williams (Frank Ferguson) takes a sidekick role in her headhunt. He is always seen on her left, nodding in ready agreement and taking cues about whom he should keep his eyes on. These men not only rally around Emma but they also get swept up in her power. Much like Christabel, Emma has a strange and unexplainable control over men.

            Christabel is always in the spotlight with men. Gobby (Mel Ferrer) spends hours and hours painting her in his studio. When he’s not painting her he’s helping her decorate for events, coaching her with life advice, or dropping by for mid-morning drinks. Nick Robert Ryan) seems to wine and dine her nearly every night. Carey, a man who is happily engaged, takes her ring shopping, accompanies her to events, and goes out of his way to make her feel comfortable and accepted. Christabel is always seen balancing this attention from men. She nearly always shares the frame with a male character and often makes some physical connection with them. Even when she wants something from her Uncle, she turns on the charm and gets what she wants.

            
New Love: 
The only time Christabel is ever portrayed as uncomfortable is when she is around Nick (the telling sign of a resentful romantic). He may be the only person she has true feelings for and she rejects this happiness. Ray brilliantly uses this opposite to great effect. In the opening scene Christabel thinks Nick is an intruder. The blocking of the scene displays her discomfort. She can’t see him behind the refrigerator door, then she caters to him like a housewife would (handing him salt and pepper), then she becomes frustrated with his arrogance. This foreshadows their entire relationship. Later when she sits in the car with Nick after a date, she literally walks away from him as he opens up to her. She knows what they have isn’t genuine and Ray shows this depth through her actions. When she tries reasoning her way around cheating on Curtis, she grows increasingly more agitated and uncomfortable when Nick tries to get an honest answer from her. Her trigger between intimate and aggressive is sensitive and it only takes the slightest change to flip it.

            Ray uses this same opposite for Emma. Her feelings for Dancin’ Kid are obvious, but her role as the resentful romantic keeps from being able to express those desires. In the opening sequence she has a brief dance with the Dancin’ Kid and her face looks nearly terrified. She uncomfortably participates in the dance and becomes more aggressive once those feelings are stirred inside her. Vienna points out Emma’s discomfort with her sexuality and Emma’s reaction is chilling. Her face contorts with fury and her glares become frighteningly intense. When Dancin’ Kid enters the saloon later the look on Emma’s face is revealing. Partially because of the quick edit, it leaves the impression that she is hopelessly in love and mentally disturbed by the feelings.