Based on the 1954 Joan Crawford/Mercedes McCambridge film of the same name, Johnny Guitar is set in a small town in the New Mexico mountains circa 1885. The story centers of Vienna, a sultry saloonkeeper who built a booming business "on her back." Though Vienna is the ultimate bad girl gone good, her nemesis, the pent-up Emma, sees things differently. A domineering cattle tycoon, Emma controls the town with an iron fist but loses her grip when she falls for the dangerously hot-headed Dancin' Kid. By the time Johnny Guitar, a tall stranger with a secret past, rolles into town, the stage is set for an epic showdown unlike anything the Old West or off-Broadway has ever seen.