Johnny Guitar/Two Mules for Sister Sara

In West of Everything, Jane Tompkins says, “Westerns either push women out of the picture completely or assign them roles in which they exist only to serve the needs of men” (Tompkins 39-40). This is certainly not true of Western films that present revisionist ideas about women, such as Johnny Guitar and Two Mules for Sister Sara. For example, Vienna, the lead character in Johnny Guitar, is a business-minded woman in a Western. She has a strong presence from the start of the film. She first appears on screen at the top of the stairs in her saloon when Johnny Guitar comes in to talk with her, establishing her power we see throughout the rest of the film. She is aggressive and strong-minded, and she doesn’t get along well with another woman in the film, Emma Small. The two women hate each other, and when Emma persuades the town to hang Vienna for her involvement with The Dancin’ Kid, Johnny saves her at the last second. Johnny’s presence in Vienna’s life brings her the strength to act as she does throughout the film; however, she still portrays a strong woman and she handles her own confrontation with Emma by killing her at end of the film. Vienna possesses the qualities of an alpha male, such as the ability to shoot, and she even dresses androgynously. Although Johnny Guitar is considered a classic Western, it certainly raises revisionist ideas about women.

Another film that doesn’t push a woman out of the picture is Two Mules for Sister Sara. At the beginning of the film, Hogan, a gunfighter, saves Sara from three men who are trying to rape her. Sara does not display characteristics of classic Western women because she isn’t what Hogan thinks she is. She is posing as a nun involved in the Mexican revolutionary movement against the French; however, she is really a prostitute with knowledge of the French fort. Sara is a smart, tough woman who is wise to play the victim in order to keep Hogan around. Some of her actions definitely cause Hogan to question what kind of a nun she is, because he is surprised to see her smoking a cigar and sneaking a drink of whiskey. It is obvious that she is liberated from men because she is able to successfully pose as a nun throughout the majority of the film. Although she keeps Hogan around for protection, Hogan ends up needing Sara just as much as she needs him at the end of the film. Hogan is clearly attracted to Sara, and they stay together after they successfully help the Mexicans capture the French fort. The way the alpha male cowboy relates to Sara in this film is very different from what we have seen in classical Westerns, which is why this film isn’t classified as such.